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MJTHERN 

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Plate 


Vase  with  Symbols 
Collection  of  G.  W.  Salting,  Esq. 


CHINESE  ART  MOTIVES 

INTERPRETED 

BY 
WINIFRED  REED  TREDWELL 


WITH  23  ILLUSTRATIONS 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 

NEW  YORK  LONDON 

Gbe  Ikntcfecrbocher  press 

1915 


Copyright,  1915 

BY 

WINIFRED    REED    TREDWELL 


"Cbe  Ifcnfcberbocfter  ipress,  IRew  HJorfe 


Go 

the  dear  twin  genii  of 

Mirth  and  Harmony! 


-f  ^/ytrir%^i'r>r\ 


FOREWORD 

IT  is  the  aim  of  this  tiny  bubble-book 
to  reflect  a  glint  of  the  life  that  under- 
lies Chinese  art,  which  draws  many  of  its 
motives  from  the  intimate  stories  of  that 
great  country. 

It  was  through  a  two  years'  residence 
in  the  Far  East  and  a  careful  study  of  the 
best  European  collections  of  Oriental  art 
that  I  became  interested  in  this  branch 
of  the  subject,  and  it  is  hoped  that  this 
little  hand-book  may  supply  material 
which,  at  present,  may  be  obtained  only 
by  wading  through  technical  descriptions 
of  art  collections  in  various  parts  of  the 
world.  I  have  boldly  taken  my  little 
feather  broom  to  the  dust  of  ages,  beneath 
which  are  hiding  stories  of  ourselves  and 
our  times — and  selves  and  times  yet  to 
come — though  the  names,  geography,  and 


vi  Foreword 

dates  be  different.  Lest  anybody  should 
accuse  me  of  having  invented  these  ancient 
tales,  I  have  appended  a  list  of  books, 
dealing  with  special  phases  of  Chinese  art 
or  history,  to  which  I  gratefully  acknow- 
ledge indebtedness. 

My  illustrations  come  from  various 
sources.  The  statuettes  of  Laotsze  and 
Kuan-yin  belong  to  the  interesting  col- 
lection of  R.  H.  Benson,  Esq.,  of  Killilan 
Lodge,  Kyle  of  Loch  Alsh,  and  by  his 
courtesy  have  been  especially  photo- 
graphed for  this  book.  Special  photo- 
graphs have  also  been  made  in  the  case  of 
the  statuettes  of  Ho  Shang  and  the  Para- 
gon of  Filial  Piety,  which  are  a  part  of 
Sir  A.  W.  Franks's  collection  in  the  British 
Museum,  and  in  the  case  of  the  Salting 
vase  and  the  porcelain  plaque,  shown  in 
the  frontispiece  and  on  pages  32  and  90, 
which  come  from  that  wonder-house,  the 
Victoria  and  Albert  Museum  in  London. 


Foreword  vii 

The  ' '  Post-Impressionist ' '  drawings, 
which  dot  this  work,  have  been  made 
from  choice  pieces  of  pottery,  brocades, 
embroidery,  lacquer,  carvings,  etc.,  in 
public  and  private  collections  in  Europe 
and  America.  Only  the  author  is  to 
blame. 

There  is  no  more  delightful  intro- 
duction to  the  soul  of  China  than  her 
art,  into  which  has  been  woven,  to  the 
perfection  of  beauty,  much  that  is  frankly 
humorous,  whimsical,  and  profound.  The 
elementary  language  of  this  art  is  simple 
enough — a  handful  of  symbols — and  here 
you  are! 

W.  R.  T. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  I 

PAGE 

The  Story  on  your  Chinese  Vase  .        3 

CHAPTER  II 
Taoist  Subjects  in  Art       ...      27 

CHAPTER  III 

Confucianism    and    Scholarly    Attri- 
butes .....       47 

CHAPTER  IV 

Buddhist  and  Non-Religious  Subjects 

in  Art 69 

CHAPTER  V 
Historical  Outline  (960  a.d -191 1)         .      95 

Index I07 


IX 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Plate     i.     Vase  with  Symbols  Frontispiece 

Plate     2.     Snuff     Bottle    with     Tae- 

Keih 8 

Plate  3.  Phcenix  and  Dragon  .  .      9 

Plate  4.  Nature  Motives    .  .  .12 

Plate  5.  Ginger  Jar     .        .  .  .13 

Plate  6.  Flower  Motives    .  .  .18 

Plate  7.  Hundred  Antiques  .  .     19 

Plate  8.  Hundred  Antiques  .  .     22 

Plate  9.  Eight  Precious  Things  .    23 

Plate  10.     Laotsze   as   Shun-Lao,    God 

of  Immortality    .        .        .30 

Plate  ii.     Plaque     with     Eight      Im- 
mortals       .        .        .        .31 

Plate  12.     Symbols    of    Eight    Taoist 

Immortals    .        .        .        -34 

Plate  13.    Taoist  Paradise     .        .        .35 


xii  Illustrations 


PAGE 


Plate  14.     Symbols    of    Culture    and 

Honour       .        .        .        .44 

Plate  14.     Four  Elegant  Accomplish- 
ments   44 

Plate  15.    A  Paragon  of  Filial  Piety  .    45 

Plate  16.     Cultural  Symbols        .        .     62 

Plate  17.     Bodhidharma — Spirit  Cross- 
ing the  Waves    .        .        .63 

Plate  18.     Buddhist     and     Confucian 

Symbols  (Occasional)         .    72 

Plate  19.    Buddhist  Symbols  (Formal)  .     73 

Plate  20.     Seven    Gems    of    Universal 

Monarch     .        .        ,        .78 

Plate  21,     Ho-Shang,  God  of  Content- 
ment and  Riches        ,        ,    79 

Plate  22.     Kuan-Yin,     Goddess    of 

Mercy         .        .        .        .86 

Plate  23.     Vase    with    Symbols    (  Re- 
verse)        .        .        .        .87 


AUTHORITIES 

Chinese  Reader's  Manual,  William  Frederick 
Mayers,  Shanghai,    1874. 

History  of  Ceramic  Art,  Albert  Jacquemart, 
London,  1873. 

L'Art  Chinois,  G.  M.  Paleologue,  Maison 
Quantin,  Paris,  1887. 

Imperial  History  of  China,  J.  MacGowan, 
Shanghai,  1906. 

Chinese  Art,  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum  Hand- 
book, Stephen  W.  Bushell,  1910. 

Handbook  of  Chinese  Buddhism,  E.  J.  Eitel, 
1888. 

China,  A  History  of  the  Laws,  Manners,  and  Cus- 
toms of  the  People,  John  Henry  Gray, 
MacMillan  &  Co.     London,  1878. 

Chinese  Biographical  Dictionary,  H.  A.  Giles, 
1898. 

Catalogue  of  Japanese  and  Chinese  Paintings  in 
the  British  Museum,  R.  L.  Hobson. 

Catalogue  of  Oriental  Porcelain,  Bethnal  Green 
Museum,  Sir  A.  W.  Franks,  K.C.B. 

Things  Chinese,  J.  Dyer  Ball,  M.R.A.S., 
Chas.  Scribner's  Sons,  New  York,  1906. 


CHINESE  ART  MOTIVES 


The  Story  on  Your  Chinese  Vase 

"  Tzu  Kung  said:  '  I  am  anxious  to  avoid,  doing 
to  others  that  which  I  would  not  have  them  do 
to  me!'  The  Master  said:  'Tzu,  you  have  not 
got  as  far  as  that!'  "—Analects. 


CHAPTER  I 

THE   STORY  ON  YOUR  CHINESE  VASE 

A  A  THEN  China  sends  a  mandarin  coat, 
a  square  of  brocade,  a  bit  of 
crockery  or  carving,  out  of  the  East,  it 
goes  as  a  part  of  her  message  to  the  world. 
On  each  piece  are  reminders  of  ancient 
stories,  which  are  told  over  and  over 
again  in  every  branch  of  Chinese  art  and 
handicraft.  These  lie  hidden  from  the 
careless  eye  behind  the  Oriental  veil  of 
symbolism.  With  the  Chinese,  art  is 
narrative,  and  he  who  is  willing  to  stop 
and  pull  aside  this  filmy  curtain  of  the 
East  will  find  himself  at  a  most  enticing 
gate,  which  leads  into  a  new  and  yet  a 
very  old  world,  filled  with  people  of  flesh 
and  blood,  a  history  as  fascinating  as  it 

3 


4  Chinese  Art 

is  long,  and  showing  some  of  the  soundest 
philosophy  the  world  has  ever  known. 
The  Chinese  artist  prides  himself  on  the 
personal  details  he  can  put  into  a  picture, 
that  is,  the  history  of  his  subject  in  art, 
literature,  official  service,  or  social  life. 

Owing  to  the  sturdy  way  in  which 
bronzes  put  up  with  a  wretched  climate 
for  an  endless  length  of  time — for  all  the 
world  like  the  English  people — the  early 
Chinese  have  been  able  to  tell  us  a  part 
of  their  own  experience.  Their  first 
bronze  messages  deal  chiefly  with  the 
weather,  the  celestial  topic  which  has 
been  used  more  than  any  other  to  open 
up  cherished  friendships.  One  is  sorry 
to  know  that  there  were  plenty  of  clouds 
(PI.  4.)  in  those  days,  and  the  thunder  so 
emphatic  that  they  put  it  into  the  pattern 
known  to  our  world  as  the  Trojan  Key. 
This  famous  design  is  supposed  to  have 
arisen  independently  in  Greece  and  China. 


Story  on  Your  Chinese  Vase      5 

Moreover  they  tell  us  that  there  existed 
even  in  those  times  an  annoying  land- 
ogre  called  the  Tao-t'ieh,  whose  face 
looks  ever  so  much  like  the  incarnated 
ancestor  of  a  mortgage!  His  eyes,  and 
sometimes  his  nose,  and  hungry  mouth — 
done  in  relief  on  antique  wine  vessels — 
are  to  be  seen  today  by  those  possessed 
of  sufficient  imagination. 

As  is  now  well-known,  China  has  long 
ago  discovered  everything.  This  fact 
was  not  realized  by  Rosel  von  Rosenhof, 
who  confidently  thought  that  he  had 
found  the  first  amceba  in  1755.  Little 
did  he  dream  that  Fu  Hsi — mythically 
styled  the  first  Chinaman — had  stolen 
the  glory  of  its  counterpart  by  a  little 
margin  of  more  than  3000  years!  The 
find  was  given  to  the  world  in  a  perfectly 
modern  way,  with  unusually  clever  ad- 
vertisement. Fu  Hsi  declared  that,  while 
thinking  over  a  means  of  making  clear 


6  Chinese  Art 

the  knotty  problem  of  the  universe,  a 
dragon-horse  skimmed  over  the  water 
towards  him.  It  was  a  horrible  moment 
for  Fu  Hsi,  until  he  noticed  that  the 
dragon-horse  bore  on  its  back  some  mystic 
symbols,  subsequently  used  in  all  forms 
of  Chinese  art,  which  contained  in  their 
few  lines  the  world  and  all  that  in  it  is, 
beginning  with  the  amoeba. 

The  first  symbol,  and  the  one  which 
von  Rosenhof  would  have  most  deeply 
resented  had  he  been  among  those  present, 
was  called  the  Tae-Keih  (PI.  4).  This 
was  a  circle  divided  by  a  curved  line  into 
two  nucleated  cells.  One  of  these  stood 
for  the  female  principle  (yin) — such  as 
the  earth,  the  moon,  etc. — and  was  gene- 
rated by  the  "Rest"  of  the  Tae-Keih  or 
Great  All.  The  other  cell  denoted  the 
male  principle  (yang) — such  as  the  heaven 
sun,  etc. — and  was  generated  by  the 
"Motion"  of  the  Great  All. 


Story  on  Your  Chinese  Vase      7 

One  of  the  classics  {Yih  King),  edited 
by  Confucius,  explains  that  the  health, 
happiness,  and  peace  of  individuals,  na- 
tions, and  the  universe,  depend  on  the 
balance  maintained  between  these  two 
elements.  Conversely,  great  lack  of  bal- 
ance between  them  is  the  source  of  ill- 
health,  war,  and  chaos. 

From  the  Tae-Keih  sprang  other  sym- 
bols made  up  of  a  complete  or  masculine 
line  and  a  broken  or  feminine  line,  which 
gave  rise  to  a  lineal  representation  of  the 
whole  universe,  known  as  the  Eight 
Mystic  Tri grams  (PL  2).  These  are  es- 
pecially interesting  in  this  age  of  equal 
suffrage  as  revealing  the  place  in  nature 
given  to  the  "broken  reed"  by  the  an- 
cestors of  the  newest  Republic: 

^^         Symbol  for  the  sidereal  globe, 
— ~         in  other  words  heaven.  (Com- 
pletely male.) 


8  Chinese  Art 

Mist,  steam,  the  vaporous  in 
ZLZT         nature.     (Female   in   the   as- 
cendant.) 

■»—»         Fire,  and  its  attributes,  heat 
mmm        and  light. 

_  —        Thunder — the  big  noise.  (Why 
— ■        two-thirds  female?) 

—  Wind.     (Note  the  two  male 

—  —•         lines.) 

■——        Fluid  element. 

—  —         Mountains.    (Largely  female.) 

—  —         Earth.     (The      extreme       of 
heaven.     Completely  female.) 

To  begin  with  the  heavens  in  general, 
and  that  ultra-male,  the  sun,  in  particu- 
lar, it  is  necessary  to  state  that  early 
Chinese  minds  were  so  busied  about  it, 
that  more  recent  artists  have  found  a  set 


Plate  2 


Snuff  Bottle  with  Eight  Mystic  Trigrams 


Plate  3 


Phoenix  and  Dragon  Embroidered 


Story  on  Your  Chinese  Vase      9 

of  ready-made,  sun-dried  conventions 
waiting  for  them.  Those  things  in  art 
which  have  to  do  with  the  sun,  such  as 
altars  and  vase-shapes,  must  be  round  or 
of  unequal  divisions.  Its  proper  colour 
symbol  is  red;  and  sang-de-bceuf — that 
pottery,  bathed  in  a  gorgeous  stream  of 
sacrificial  blood — probably  came  into  ex- 
istence, according  to  Bushell,  in  response 
to  the  demand  for  a  rich  and  appropriate 
colour.  The  sun  itself  is  the  symbol  of 
Light  victorious  over  Darkness,  and  may 
be  represented  by  a  circle  or  red  ball,  on 
which  may  be  sketched  the  outline  of  the 
three-footed  red  crow.  Sometimes  the 
ball  is  surrounded  by  clouds  or  it  sinks 
behind  the  mountains  (PI.  4)  which,  truth 
to  tell,  often  look  less  like  mountains 
than  like  a  table  napkin  which  has  been 
discarded  by  an  impetuous  diner.  Con- 
stellations (PI.  4)  are  frequently  com- 
pressed into  the  sky-view  of  a  vase  or 


io  Chinese  Art 

wall-painting,  with  the  stars  carefully 
tied  together  by  a  little  string,  so  that 
none  of  them  may  be  mistaken  for  an 
accident.  These  usually  indicate  the 
presence  on  the  picture  of  some  mythical 
personage  who  is  connected  by  tradition 
with  that  especial  group  of  stars. 

One  of  the  busiest  animals  in  the  world 
is  the  Chinese  dragon  (PI.  3)  who,  when 
he  is  not  half-way  between  heaven  and 
earth,  spitting  flames  or  fighting  tigers, 
is  kept  on  the  jump,  guarding — amongst 
other  things — vases,  tea-table  covers,  tea- 
napkins,  household  furniture,  and  man- 
darin coats!  Though  at  times  he  may 
appear  a  bit  frivolous,  he  is  in  reality 
the  symbol  of  a  profound  conception  of 
nature,  well  worthy  of  its  intellectual 
foster  parents.  The  dragon  holds  within 
himself  the  part  of  the  universe  which  is 
gloriously  free  and  unrestrained,  in  oppo- 
sition to  that  miserable  fraction  which, 


Story  on  Your  Chinese  Vase     n 

like  ourselves,  is  imprisoned  in  matter. 
The  tiger  represents  this  jailed  portion, 
and  no  doubt  the  reason  the  dragon  is 
always  attacking  her  is  because  he  feels 
so  perfectly  safe!  Dragons  in  art  may 
be  looked  on  as  a  composite  photograph 
of  the  legal  profession,  for  it  is  their 
special  business  to  guard  the  jewel  of  the 
law  (PI.  4).  This  last  item  is  a  rare 
and  valuable  disk  on  which  the  dragon 
tries  to  get  his  claws.  His  forensic  abil- 
ity is  represented  by  flames  (PI.  4)  which 
sometimes  spring  from  his  mouth  with 
great  volume  and  intensity.  Sometimes 
it  is  only  steam. 

If  a  really  classic  dragon  were  to  ap- 
pear unannounced  in  our  midst,  he  would 
attract  a  good  deal  of  attention,  for  he 
would  have  a  camel's  head,  deer's  horns, 
rabbit's  eyes,  cow's  ears,  snake's  neck, 
frog's  belly,  carp's  scales,  hawk's  claws, 
tiger's    palm — and    whiskers!     One    can 


12  Chinese  Art 

imagine  the  zoologists  and  newspaper 
reporters  that  would  follow  in  his  wake! 
In  event  of  this  circumstance  a  challenge 
is  hereby  issued  to  them  all — even  to  the 
reporters,  although  this  would  be  rash 
in  the  U.  S.  A. — to  guess  whether  he  was: 

A  sky-dragon — guardian  of  the  heavens, 
who  keeps  them  from  caving  in ; 

An  earth-dragon — tracer  of  the  course 
of  rivers ; 

A  spiritual  dragon — ruler  of  the  wind 
and  rain-clouds; 

A  dragon  of  hidden  treasures. 

The  Dragon  Feast,  which  is  often  the 
subject  of  pictures,  is  a  familiar  sight  in 
many  parts  of  China,  as  well  as  in  foreign 
towns,  where  there  is  a  large  Chinese 
colony.  It  is  held  annually  on  the  fifth 
day  of  the  fifth  moon  in  commemoration 
of  the  death  of  an  eminent  statesman, 
Chu  Yuan,  who  was  adviser  to  Prince 
Hwai   (314  B.C.).     Through  no  fault  of 


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Plate  5 


Blue  and  White  Ginger  Jar  with  Prunus  Blossoms 


Story  on  Your  Chinese  Vase     13 

his  own,  the  adviser  fell  into  disgrace, 
and,  in  the  pride  of  his  hitherto  honour- 
able name,  found  life  more  than  he  could 
bear.  After  unburdening  his  heart  to  a 
sympathetic  fisherman,  he  threw  himself 
into  the  river  Mi-lo,  from  which  his  body 
was  never  recovered.  For  two  thousand 
years  dragon  parades  have  been  held  on 
land  and  water  to  show  the  reverence  of 
the  people  for  the  virtues  of  the  good 
Chu  Yuan. 

Since  the  reign  of  Kao  Ts'ou  (Han 
Dynasty  206  B.C.)  the  five-clawed  dragon 
has  been  the  Emperor's  emblem.  It  was 
also  allowed  for  the  use  of  the  Emperor's 
sons  and  princes  of  the  first  and  second 
rank.  Princes  of  the  third  and  fourth 
rank  had  to  be  content  with  one  claw 
less  on  their  emblem,  while  princes  of  the 
fifth  rank  and  mandarins  were  allowed  to 
have  all  five  claws  provided  they  were 
attached  to  the  body  of  a  serpent.     In  the 


14  Chinese  Art 

same  way  a  distinction  was  made  be- 
tween the  honorific  tablets  of  the  Em- 
peror and  his  powerful  vassals.  Those  of 
the  Emperor  (PI.  4)  were  oblong  with 
square  corners.  Those  of  his  subjects 
were  of  the  same  general  shape  but  with 
one  or  both  of  the  upper  corners  "clipped" 
as  a  symbol  of  their  submission  to  im- 
perial authority.  Tablets  in  other  forms, 
graven  with  complimentary  inscriptions, 
were  given  in  recognition  of  public  service 
and  were  used  as  a  cherished  decoration 
in  receiving  rooms. 

Ancient  stories  link  together  the  dragon 
and  the  carp.  Both  in  China  and  Japan 
the  carp  is  admired  because  it  is  ambi- 
tious enough  to  swim  against  the  current. 
It  has,  therefore,  become  the  emblem  of 
perseverance,  and  the  legend  is  that  when 
the  carp  has  passed  the  falls  at  the  Dragon 
Gate  of  the  Yellow  River,  it  finds  its  re- 
ward by  being  changed  into  a  dragon. 


Story  on  Your  Chinese  Vase     15 

Its  aspiring  and  inspiring  leap  to  glory  is 
exhibited — all  unbeknownst  to  the  owner 
in  most  instances — on  many  a  mantel- 
piece and  dining-room  table  of  the 
western  world. 

The  phoenix  (PI.  3)  is  the  emblem  of 
the  Empress.  It  is  not  a  sensational 
hybrid  like  the  dragon,  and  confines  it- 
self to  the  family  traits  of  the  feathered 
tribe,  such  as  "swallow's  beak,  pheasant's 
head,  and  long  streaming  tail."  Its 
five  colours  symbolize  the  five  cardinal 
virtues. 

There  is  a  further  colour  symbolism, 
especially  applicable  to  embroidery,  to 
indicate  the  points  of  the  compass.  The 
east  side,  according  to  classic  rule,  should 
be  the  blue  side — and  so  it  is  even  in 
London  and  New  York ;  the  west — white ; 
the  north — black;  and  the  south — red. 
This  scheme  extends  even  to  animals  in 
such  a  way  that  a  startled  collector  might 


16  Chinese  Art 

easily  find  the  Black  Serpent  and  Tor- 
toise of  the  North,  the  Red  Bird  of  the 
South,  the  Blue  Dragon  of  the  East,  and 
the  White  Tiger  of  the  West  loitering 
about  the  premises.  Bluish  black  is  the 
colour  indicated  for  the  side  of  the  sky. 
This  is  also  true  in  London.  Further- 
more, there  is  an  arrangement  for  clouds 
— though  scarcely  in  the  Whistlerian 
sense.  Green  clouds  denote  a  plague  of 
insects;  red — calamity  or  warfare;  black 
— floods;  and  yellow  prosperity.  The 
five  elements,  wood,  fire,  water,  earth 
and  metals  are  represented  respectively 
by  green,  red,  black,  yellow,  and  white. 
White  is  also  the  emblem  of  mourning. 
The  royal  colours  are:  Brown  for  the 
Sung  Dynasty  (960-1127  a.d.);  green  for 
the  Ming  (1 368-1 644  A.D.);  and  a  special 
yellow  for  the  Ts'ing  (1644-1911  a.d.) 
It  has  broken  the  heart  and  purse  of  many 
a  collector  of  Chinese  art  to  find  out  only 


Story  on  Your  Chinese  Vase     17 

too  late,  that  he  has  purchased  the  wrong 
shade. 

We  have  now  gradually  worked  our 
way  down  to  the  bottom  of  the  trigram- 
matic  ladder,  where  that  unfortunate 
infra-female — the  Earth — is  waiting  as 
usual.  There  is  not  much  to  say  about 
her  except  that  altars,  vase-forms,  and 
other  symbols  in  her  honour  should  be 
square  or  of  even  divisions.  Her  colour, 
even  in  those  days  of  her  youth,  was  de- 
creed to  be  a  most  ungallant  yellow,  and, 
except  in  the  form  of  mountains  and  rock- 
eries (PI.  4),  she  does  not  seem  to  play 
a  very  large  part.  Even  when  she  does 
appear  she  would  never  recognize  herself 
after  having  gone  through  the  hands  of 
an  artistic  Chinese  beauty  doctor. 

Twelve  of  her  loveliest  children,  to- 
gether with  a  dozen  of  her  brutish  step- 
relatives,  are  used  to  symbolize  the 
months  of  the  year: 


18 

Chinese  Art 

January- 

prunus 

tiger 

February 

peach  blossom 

rabbit 

March 

tree-peony 

dragon 

April 

double  cherry  blossom  serpent 

May 

magnolia 

horse 

June 

pomegranate 

hare 

July 

lotus 

monkey 

August 

pear 

fowl 

September 

mallow 

dog 

October 

chrysanthemum 

wild  boar 

November 

gardenia 

rat 

December 

poppy 

bullock 

Among  the  blossoms  the  following  have 
been  selected  for  the  special  honour  of 
representing  the  four  seasons:  the  tree- 
peony  for  spring,  the  lotus  for  summer, 
the  chrysanthemum  for  autumn,  and  the 
prunus  for  winter. 

The  prunus  or  plum  blossom  fre- 
quently appears  on  the  ginger  jars  (PL  5) 
of  blue  and  white  porcelain,  which  were 
often  used  for  gifts  of  tea  at  the  New  Year. 
The  background  with  its  angular  lines 
is  meant  to  resemble  crackling  ice,  and 


a 


mS 


^ 


C 


hJ 


—        O 


P3 


r 


Plate  7 


Hundred  Antiques 


Hundred  Antiques 


Story  on  Your  Chinese  Vase     19 

the  success  of  the  vase  depends  greatly 
upon  the  skill  with  which  the  decorator 
has  suggested  a  transparent  coating  of  ice 
beneath  which  lies  an  unfathomable  depth 
of  blue.  The  prunus  design  itself — often 
referred  to  as  the  hawthorn  (PI.  6) — is  of 
three  types:  climbing  prunus  (PL  6) ;  hang- 
ing prunus  (PI.  6) ;  and  cluster  prunus 
(PI.  6)  Sometimes  the  two  or  three 
varieties  are  found  on  the  same  vase. 

There  is  a  beautiful  legend  connected 
with  the  plum-tree  which  sometimes  oc- 
curs in  art.  A  young  man,  who  had 
started  on  a  pilgrimage  to  Mount  Lo-Fou, 
stopped  to  rest  at  the  edge  of  a  pine 
forest.  Out  of  the  nowhere  a  beautiful 
woman  approached  to  meet  him,  bearing 
about  her  person  the  delicate  fragrance 
of  the  plum  blossom.  After  conversing 
with  her  for  some  time  he  fell  asleep 
and  on  awakening  found  himself  covered 
with  white  petals  which  were  falling  like 


20  Chinese  Art 

scented  flakes  of  snow  from  a  plum-tree 
over  his  head. 

The  earth's  favourite  satellite,  the 
moon  (PI.  6),  is  depicted  as  a  disk,  often 
among  clouds,  with  waves  covering  half 
its  base  in  recognition  of  its  influence  over 
the  tides.  Its  most  prominent  citizen 
is  the  miserable  Wu  Kung,  whose  punish- 
ment as  a  sorcerer  consists  in  eternally 
hacking  away  at  a  cinnamon-tree,  which 
gently  but  firmly  refuses  to  be  cut  down. 

The  frog  is  an  emblem  of  the  moon  and 
was  once  a  woman  who  fled  to  that  chilly 
disk  after  having  robbed  her  husband  of 
the  elixir  of  immortality,  given  him  by 
the  Taoist  goddess  Hsi  Wang  Mu.  The 
hare  also  lives  in  the  moon,  though  as 
a  mark  of  honour,  because  once  upon  a 
time  it  dashed  on  to  a  pyre  and  offered 
itself  up  as  a  religious  sacrifice.  No  doubt 
for  want  of  social  gaiety  it  spends  its 
time  with  mortar  and  pestle  (PI.  6),  grind- 


Story  on  Your  Chinese  Vase    21 

ing  the  famous  patent  elixirs,  guaranteed 
to  produce  immortality,  which  have  been 
on  sale  at  street-corner  pharmacies  ever 
since  the  world  began. 

The  beautiful  shade  of  blue-grcy-pink 
known  as  clair  de  hine,  which  runs  over 
rare  examples  of  ancient  pottery  like  a 
luscious  sugar  frosting,  is  appropriate 
for  use  in  the  Temple  of  the  Moon. 

The  foregoing  symbols  of  royalty, 
heaven  and  earth,  appear  on  pottery, 
embroidery,  and  lacquer  astonishingly 
often.  There  may  be  mentioned  also 
the  Twelve  Ornaments,  properly  used  in 
embroidery  for  sacrificial  robes,  but  some- 
times found  on  garments  worn  by  those 
next  to  one  at  the  theatre.  According 
to  Sir  A.  W.  Franks  they  are: 

1.  Sun,  in  a  bank  of  clouds,  with  the  three- 

legged  bird  inside  the  disk; 

2.  Moon,    containing    hare    with    mortar 

and  pestle; 


V 


22  Chinese  Art 

3.  Star   constellation   of   stars    connected 

by  straight   lines; 

4.  Mountains,  worshipped  in  China  from 

ancient  times; 

5.  Dragons,    two   scaly   ones,    each    five- 

clawed  ; 

6.  Flowery  fowls,  two  variegated   pheas- 

ants; 

7.  Temple     vessels,     used     in     ancestral 

worship ; 

8.  Aquatic  grass  in  sprays; 

9.  Fire  in  naming  scrolls; 

10.  Miilet  grains  grouped  in  medallions; 

11.  Fu  =  axe  or  weapon  of  warrior ; 

12.  Fu  =  symbol  of  distinction  or  happiness. 

The  Chinese  syllable  "Fu"  not  only 
means  axe  and  happiness,  but  "bat "as 
well.  Therefore  bats  (PI.  6)  are  used 
interchangeably  with  it — an  embroidered 
or  painted  pun.  Five  bats  in  the  same 
design  signify  the  five  blessings — good- 
ness, riches,  offspring,  long  life,  and  a 
happy  death. 

The  Hundred  Antiques  is  an  elastic 


^ 

^ 


O    f^ 


«r\9 


k9 


a;    V 


U^ 


3 


O 


Story  on  Your  Chinese  Vase    23 

group  of  symbols,  sacred  or  profane;  and 
almost  everything  symbolic,  whether  de- 
scribed in  this  book  or  not,  belongs  to  it 
(PI.  7  and  PL  8).  Whenever  a  sinologue 
is  a  little  bit  at  a  loss  as  to  the  proper 
classification  of  a  symbol,  he  claps  it  into 
the  Hundred  Antiques,  where  it  subsides 
without  a  murmur  until  the  coming  of 
the  next  sinologue.  Then  it  is  interesting 
to  hear  the  noise.  The  most  frequent 
and  best  authenticated  symbols  in  this 
crowded  armoire  are  the  Eight  Precious 
Things  (PI.  9) : 

1.  Pearl,  said  to  be  used  as  a  charm  against 

fire  and  flood. 

2.  Lozenge,  sometimes  hollow  supposed  to 

be  an  obsolete  musical  instrument.  - 

3.  Lozenge,  possibly  an  ancient  metal  mirror. 

4.  Coin,  emblem  of  wealth. 

5.  Artemisia  leaf,  emblem  of  good  fortune. 

6.  Pair  of  horn  cups.     Rhinoceros  horn  cups 

were  said  to  sweat  when  filled  with 
poisonous  substances. 


24  Chinese  Art 

7.  Jade  gong,  rung  by  those  desiring  justice. 

8.  Two   books.     Probably   an   emblem   of 

learning  or  wisdom. 

The  ribbons  or  fillets  which  bind  these 
symbols  originally  suggested  the  sacred 
nature  of  the  objects  so  entwined.  It 
seems  probable  that  later  artists  em- 
ployed them  for  decorative  purposes 
only,  with  the  idea  of  filling  up  space 
in  the  easiest  way. 


n 

Taoist  Subjects  in  Art 

"A  man  may  know  the  world  without  leaving 
the  shelter  of  his  roof;  through  his  own  windows 
he  may  see  the  Supreme  Tao.  The  further 
afield  he  goes,  the  less  likely  is  he  to  find  it. 
The  Sage, then, knows  things  without  travelling, 
names  things  without  having  seen  them,  and  per- 
forms everything  without  action." — Laotsze. 


25 


CHAPTER  II 

TAOIST   SUBJECTS    IN   ART 

AOTSZE,  the  honoured  founder  of 
the  Taoist  religion  in  China,  would 
meet  with  the  surprise  of  his  several  lives 
were  he  to  enter  a  Taoist  shrine  today. 
One  can  imagine  the  dismay  of  this 
wise  old  man  on  finding  it  filled  with  gods 
and  magicians  of  every  complexion  and 
variety.  On  reaching  the  very  heart  of 
the  temple  he  would  make  the  most 
uncomfortable  discovery  of  all — that  he 
himself  had  become  the  god-in-chief! 
Owing  to  his  rare  little  way  of  living  ac- 
cording to  his  own  teachings,  he  would 
bear  no  resentment  toward  Huang  Ti,  the 
self-styled  "First  Emperor"  (b.c.  249)  to 
whom  is  ascribed  a  half-interest  in  the 
27 


28  Chinese  Art 

founding  of  the  Taoist  religion.  It  was 
this  man  who  is  said  to  have  thought  out 
the  witchcraft  and  other  crowd-gathering 
elements  which  have  given  Taoism  its  long 
grip  over  the  lower  class  Chinese.  More- 
over, it  was  he  who  constructed  the  Great 
Wall  and  the  very  name  of  China  itself 
is  supposed  to  come  from  his — the  Chin 
Dynasty.  He  was  reputed  to  be  the 
first  alchemist,  and  for  his  distinguished 
services  in  this  direction  was  moved  into 
the  heavenly  House  of  Lords,  where  he 
now  sniffs  an  occasional  pot  of  incense, 
as  he  sits  in  gaudy  robes  and  wooden 
silence. 

It  was  the  good  Laotsze,  who,  in  the 
sixth  century  B.C.,  anticipated  Bergson's 
Creative  Evolution  by  teaching  that  the 
universe  comes  from  an  all-holding  and 
impersonal  principle  which  is  self-existent 
and  self -developing. 

His  eager  followers  were  not  content 


Taoist  Subjects  in  Art  29 

to  let  the  matter  rest  there,  but  among 
other  things  surrounded  the  jewel  of  his 
philosophy  with  the  Eight  Immortals,  a 
complete  paradise  and  a  deified  "Secre- 
tary of  Agriculture."  They  have  made 
longevity  the  thing,  as  well  as  life  after 
death  which  comes  to  those  who  have 
sipped  of  the  elixir  of  immortality.  Ka- 
kuzu  Okakura,  the  distinguished  Japan- 
ese author,  hints  that  this  blessed  elixir 
is  nothing  more  or  less  than  a  cup  of  tea ! 
Laotsze  himself  (PI.  10)  as  Shun-lao — 
the  God  of  Long  Life — occupies  the  fore- 
ground of  many  a  plate.  It  is  his  wont 
to  rest  with  his  deer  under  a  pine-tree, 
where  he  may  be  known  from  his  fellows 
by  his  high  forehead  with  its  big  bump 
of  benevolence.  There  is  usually  a  scroll, 
peach,  or  a  ju-i  sceptre  near  him,  which 
may  possibly  be  carried  by  an  attendant. 
Three  plums  are  one  of  his  attributes  and 
are  considered  an  emblem  of  longevity. 


30  Chinese  Art 

It  is  possible  that  the  early  Britons  may 
have  connected  this  superstition  to  the 
twice-a-day  damson,  which — stewed — 
may  be  considered  England's  national 
fruit.  The  ju-i  sceptre  (PI.  6)  is  also  an 
emblem  of  long  life,  and  its  three-lobed 
head  is  a  frequent  motive  in  decora- 
tion (PL  6).  It  gets  its  form  from  the 
polyporus  fungus  which,  like  other 
mushrooms,  is  supposed  to  be  a  giver  of 
immortality,  especially  when  by  some 
unfortunate  accident  these  happen  to 
belong  to  the  toad-stool  family. 

The  peach  (PI.  14)  is  the  fruit  of  the 
sacred  tree  growing  near  the  Lake  of  Gems 
in  the  west,  and  is  watched  over  by  the 
goddess  Hsi  Wang  Wu.  The  tree  is 
slow  to  bloom  and  performs  the  feat  every 
three  thousand  years,  after  which  the 
fruit  takes  another  three  thousand  years 
to  ripen! 

Shun-lao  is  usually  found  at  his  celestial 


Plate  10 


Laotsze  as  Shun-Lao,  God  of  Longevity 

Collection  of   R.    II.    Benson,   Esq. 


Plate  ii 


m4 


*r* 


Plaque  with  Eight  Immortals 

Victoria  and   Albert   Museum,   London 


Taoist  Subjects  in  Art         31 

abode — the  Taoist  Paradise — surrounded 
by  the  Eight  Immortals  (PI.  11)  and  a  few 
other  friends,  all  of  whom  are  enjoying 
a  joke,  or  music,  or  argument,  just  as 
club-men  do  today  in  Piccadilly  or  on 
Fifth  Avenue.  The  only  real  difference 
is  that  in  the  Taoist  Paradise  chess  is 
played  instead  of  bridge  or  poker.  The 
paradise  itself,  often  called  the  Hills  of 
Longevity,  is  usually  a  pavilioned  and 
rocky  retreat,  where  a  stream  of  Eau-de- 
Vie  flows  on  forever — the  Chinese  symbol 
of  perpetuity  or  eternity.  Storks  (PL  13) 
which  turn  black  after  having  lived  two 
thousand  years,  for  which  nobody  will 
blame  them,  fly  about  carrying  letters 
or  divining  rods  which  are  an  important 
part  of  Oriental  religions. 

The  Eight  Immortals  usually  armed 
with  their  symbols  (PL  11  and  PL  12)  are 
either  in  the  Paradise  or  crossing  the 
waves  in  haste  to  reach  it.     Their  attri- 


32  Chinese  Art 

butes  alone  often  occur  in  embroidery, 
lacquer,  or  pottery  amongst  other  designs. 
The  following  short  accounts  will  at  least 
serve  as  an  introduction  to  these  celestials : 
Li  Tieh  Kwai  with  his  crutch  and  gourd 
(PI.  12) — one  of  the  most  prominent 
of  this  little  band — soon  becomes  a  famil- 
iar friend  to  the  student  of  Chinese  art. 
He  was  the  pupil  of  Laotsze  and  used  to 
go  into  trances  during  which  he  visited 
his  master  in  the  heavenly  spheres.  On 
one  occasion  he  left  his  empty  body  to  the 
care  of  a  disciple,  who,  however,  was 
called  away  from  his  charge  for  a  fatal 
moment.  When  the  soul  of  Li  returned, 
his  earthly  self  had  been  taken  by  another 
spirit,  and  he  thereupon  took  possession 
of  a  beggar's  body  which  had  just  been 
vacated.  For  the  rest  of  his  life  he  used 
the  beggar's  crutch  and  cane.  A  pil- 
grim's gourd  is  his  emblem — sometimes 
shown   with   vapour   escaping    from   its 


Taoist  Subjects  in  Art  33 

mouth  to  symbolize  his  mystic  voyages. 
A  fourteenth  century  painting  by  Yen 
Hui  shows  Li  with  gourd  and  crutch  and 
his  other  self  issuing  from  his  mouth. 

Chung  Li  Ch'uan,  of  the  Chow  Dynasty, 
is  represented  as  a  fat  man,  badly  in  need 
of  a  coat  or  vest,  who  carries  a  fan  (PI.  12) 
with  which  to  bring  the  dead  to  life. 
There  is  a  story  that  he  once  came  upon 
a  young  woman  who  knelt  beside  a  new- 
made  grave,  fanning  it.  He  stopped  to 
ask  her  what  she  was  doing,  and  she  told 
him  she  was  to  marry  again  but  not  until 
the  grave  of  her  first  husband  was  dry. 
Then  she  fell  to  her  fanning  with  great 
vigour.  Chung  Li  who  was  not  without 
his  sense  of  humour — or  his  fan — volun- 
teered assistance.  So  great  was  his  magic 
power  that  the  husband  who  had  been 
quite  dead  indeed  a  few  moments  before, 
came  to  life  again! 

Lu  Tung  Pin's  virtue  in  resisting  ten 


34  Chinese  Art 

major  temptations  was  rewarded  by  a 
marvellous  sword  (PL  12)  with  which  he 
performed  good  deeds  for  four  hundred 
years.  He  is  represented  carrying  the 
sword  across  his  back,  and  a  fly  brush 
in  his  hand.  Hobson  states  that  he  is  the 
patron  saint  of  barbers,  but  it  does  not 
seem  probable  that  the  personage  chosen 
as  patron  saint  of  such  an  up-to-date 
guild  would  use  the  same  weapon  for  four 
hundred  years. 

Tsao  Kuo  Ch'io  was  the  brother  of  the 
Empress  Tsaou  How.  For  this  reason  he 
wears  court  head-dress.  He  carried  his 
emblem,  a  pair  of  castanets  (PL  12),  in  his 
hand,  and  is  the  patron  saint  of  actors. 

Han  Hsiang  Tzu  was  ja,  pupil  of  Lu 
Tung  Pin  who  carried  him  to  the  sacred 
peach-tree.  Han  most  unfortunately  fell 
from  its  branches  and,  as  might  be  ex- 
pected, thereupon  entered  into  a  state  of 
immortality.     His   emblem   is   the   flute 


5L    -1 

_       5- 


O     -J 


^ 


& 


►9 

4— > 


13 
O 


ztO 


r 


Plate  13 


g3^>  ^:W^^M^i 


Taoist  Paradise 


Taoist  Subjects  in  Art  35 

(PI.  12),  which  he  used  to  play,  and  he  is 
therefore  the  patron  of  musicians. 

Chang  Kuo  Lao  (eighth  century)  was 
a  magician  with  a  good  knowledge  of 
pocket  magic.  His  vehicle  of  locomotion 
was  a  white  mule  with  splendid  lasting 
powers,  which  he  folded  up  and  carried  in 
his  pocket  when  not  in  use.  His  emblem 
is  the  tabor,  two  bamboo  tubes  (PI.  12) 
with  rods  to  beat  them,  which  are  some- 
times placed  in  the  instrument.  He  is 
the  patron  of  artists. 

Lan  Tsai  Ho  may  be  a  man  or  a  woman. 
As  a  female  she  is  represented  carrying 
a  flower  basket  (PI.  12)  Mayers  states 
that  she  wandered  abroad  clad  in  a  tat- 
tered blue  gown,  one  foot  shoeless,  the 
other  shod,  sleeping  on  the  ice  and  snow 
and  begging  her  way.  No  doubt  on 
account  of  the  basket  she  became  the 
patron  of  gardeners. 

Ho  Hsicn  Ku  was  a  woman  who  lived 


36  Chinese  Art 

on  powdered  mother  of  pearl  with  the 
hope  of  attaining  immortality.  Once 
when  sent  for  by  the  Empress  Wu  (a.d. 
690-705),  she  disappeared  and  joined  the 
Immortals.  The  mother  of  pearl  had 
done  its  work.  Her  emblem  is  the  leaf 
or  seed  pod  of  the  lotus  flower  (PI.  12). 

Near  the  sacred  peach-tree,  or  floating 
among  clouds  on  the  back  of  a  phoenix, 
may  be  found  the  goddess  Hsi  Wang  Mu, 
whom  fable  says  lived  on  Mount  Kwen 
Lun  with  her  attendant  genii,  and  her 
messengers — the  two  winged  birds.  She 
wears  gorgeous  robes  and  often  has  two 
attendants  with  her  who  carry  a  long- 
handled  fan  and  basket  of  peaches,  or 
possibly  a  spray  of  peach  blossoms  and  a 
sacred  fungus.  She  is  called  the  "Royal 
Mother  of  the  West"  and  the  story  of 
the  Emperor  Mu  Wang  (b.c.  985),  whom 
according  to  the  book  of  Chow  used  to 
visit    her    in    his    eight-horsed    chariot, 


Taoist  Subjects  in  Art  37 

suggests  the  more  recent  stories  of  Apollo 
and  his  steeds.  The  eight  horses  of  Mu 
Wang  are  often  seen  on  plates  and  vases. 

Tung  Wang  Kung,  the  Royal  King  of 
the  East,  is  the  consort  of  Hsi  Wang  Mu, 
and  is  shown  as  a  winged  figure  seated  in 
the  clouds.  Anderson  tells  the  following 
story  in  connection  with  this  god : 

11  In  the  period  of  Yuan  Yu  (1086- 1094) 
there  lived  an  old  man  in  the  capital  of 
China  who  foretold  the  future.  He  was 
only  three  feet  high  and  of  this  measure 
his  head  formed  the  moiety.  With  the 
proceeds  of  his  prophecies,  he  used  to 
buy  wine,  and  when  drunk,  would  say: 
'I  am  a  sage  and  can  bestow  the  gift  of 
long  life. '  When  summoned  before  the 
Emperor,  and  asked  his  age  he  suddenly 
vanished  after  telling  stories  of  the  long 
distant  past.  The  next  morning,  it  was 
announced  that  the  light  of  the  South 
Pole  Star  had,  on  the  previous  evening, 


38  Chinese  Art 

touched  the  Imperial  Palace.  The  Em- 
peror knew  that  the  old  man  was  the 
incarnation  of  the  Star  of  Longevity." 

He  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  first 
practical  demonstration  of  the  generative 
power  of  the  Tae-Keih,  and  is  usually 
shown  with  two  attendants,  one  carrying 
a  peach  and  the  other  a  staff  from  which 
hang  two  scrolls. 

Tung  Fang  So  occasionally  appears 
carrying  his  plunder  of  three  peaches, 
which  Hsi  Wang  Mu  planned  to  take  as 
a  present  to  her  favourite  the  Emperor 
Wu  Ti  of  the  Han  Dynasty.  This  trifling 
peculation  did  not  prevent  Tung  from 
enjoying  three  thousand  years  of  life,  and 
a  glimpse  of  paradise  which  would  not 
have  fallen  to  his  share  had  he  been  less 
enterprising. 

To  add  to  the  jollity  of  the  hills,  filled 
with  the  ever-young,  there  are  the  Twin 
Genii  of   Mirth    and  Harmony  (PL   13) 


Taoist  Subjects  in  Art  39 

One  of  these  carries  a  lotus  or  palm  leaf, 
with  which  to  fan  off  troubles,  and  the 
other  a  scroll  or  round  box  which  un- 
doubtedly contains  that  life-saving  elixir, 
Sense  of  Humour.  Near  this  group  are 
the  Three  Aged  Ones  (PI.  13),  who  from 
their  hale  and  hearty  appearance  have 
evidently  kept  themselves  in  trim  with 
Yogi  breathing  and  physical  exercises. 
They  usually  stand  together,  one  holding 
a  staff,  one  a  ju-i  sceptre,  and  the  other 
unrolling  a  scroll  on  which  is  depicted  the 
Tae-Keih.  One  may  discover  also  the 
Three  Star  Gods  of  Happiness,  Rank,  and 
Long  Life.  The  first  of  these,  Shou  Hsing, 
bears  a  peach  and  a  scroll  attached  to  a 
long  staff;  Lu  Hsing  is  dressed  in  official 
robes  and  winged  hat,  and  carries  a  ju-i 
sceptre ;  Fu  Hsing  has  a  child  on  his  back 
who  is  reaching  for  the  peach  of  long  life 
held  by  him. 

In  contrast  to  the  carefully  planned, 


40  Chinese  Art 

rubber-footed  ambitions,  suggested  by 
the  Three  Star  Gods,  stands  the  fright- 
ful Kuan  Ti,  celestial  "Secretary  of  War." 
He  is  the  deification  of  Kuan  Yu,  a  fol- 
lower of  the  Han  Dynasty  in  the  second 
century  a.d.  In  1594,  when  everyone 
thought  he  was  dead  enough  to  be  safe, 
he  was  elevated  to  his  present  office,  which 
he  still  holds  to  this  day.  He  is  repre- 
sented as  a  bearded  man,  making  a  face 
like  a  public  speaker.  Sometimes  he  is 
in  armour  with  hand  uplifted,  holding  a 
sword.  Occasionally  he  rough-rides  on 
a  dragon. 

Another  rather  forbidding  looking  per- 
son who  should  have  no  place  in  paradise, 
is  Kcuei  Hsing,  with  demon-face  and 
horns.  He  looks  to  be  one  form  of  a 
certain  person,  mentioned  in  the  Bible, 
who  is  also  noted  for  his  horns,  but  Kcuei's 
functions  are  fortunately  more  limited. 
Kcuei  carries  a  large  writing  brush  in 


Taoist  Subjects  in  Art  41 

one  hand  and  a  fancy  cap  in  the  other, 
such  as  is  said  to  have  been  worn  by 
Chinese  college  graduates.  He  performs 
with  ease  the  delicate  act  of  standing  on 
one  foot  on  the  head  of  a  large  fish,  which 
is  shooting  through  the  waves  with  great 
speed.  An  image  of  him  is  placed  directly 
in  front  of  Wen  Kung,  God  of  Literature, 
no  doubt  as  a  little  warning  of  what 
literary  people  have  to  look  forward  to. 
The  two  gods  are  sometimes  mistaken  for 
each  other.  Gulland,  being  an  author 
as  well  as  a  connoisseur  of  Chinese  art, 
is  careful  to  state  that  though  Kcuci 
Hsing's  image  stands  in  front  of  Wen 
Kung,  he  is  in  no  way  "regarded  as  his 
assistant." 

Liu  Hai  is  another  Taoist  favourite 
who  for  some  unaccountable  reason  seems 
to  have  picked  the  lock  of  heaven.  He 
often  holds  a  besom  or  broom  made  of 
brushwood,  and   is   cither   shown  carry- 


42  Chinese  Art 

ing  his  three-legged  toad  (PI.  8  and  PL  13) 
or  waiting  for  it  to  swim  toward  him. 
An  old  Chinese  painting  shows  the  swim- 
mer making  his  start,  and  when  the  pic- 
ture was  seen  by  the  author,  the  patient 
Liu  Hai  had  been  waiting  on  the  shore 
for  more  than  three  hundred  years !  Un- 
der these  circumstances  it  would  have 
been  no  more  than  kind  of  the  gods  to 
have  given  that  toad  another  leg. 

The  Rishi  often  play  about  in  paradise. 
They  are  Taoist  sages  who  sometimes 
appear  in  art  in  the  guise  of  small,  bad 
boys.  They  were  denizens  of  the  moun- 
tains who  in  their  simple  and  quiet  sur- 
roundings had  discovered  the  secret  of 
eternal  youth. 

A  frequent  subject  of  statuettes  is  Wang 
Chi,  the  original  Rip  Van  Winkle,  who 
stands  under  trees  watching  a  game  of 
chess.  As  the  story  goes,  he  was  picking 
up  firewood  one  day  and  wandered  into 


Taoist  Subjects  in  Art  43 

a  cave  where  two  old  men  were  playing 
chess.  They  passed  the  refreshments 
to  him,  and  whether  it  was  that  or  the 
excitement  of  the  game  will  never  be 
known,  but  when  the  long-suffering  play- 
ers finally  suggested  that  it  was  time  for 
him  to  go,  Wang  was  surprised  to  find  a 
little  pipe  of  dust  in  the  place  of  his  axe- 
handle!  Imagine  his  astonishment,  not 
to  speak  of  his  anxiety  on  his  way  home! 
Among  the  symbols  of  Taoism  itself 
are  the  bronze  mirrors,  which  are  some- 
times carried  on  the  back  of  the  sacred 
ox  (PI.  14)  and  the  fly  brush  (PI.  14)  with 
its  knob  of  horse-hair  fastened  a  little 
distance  from  the  staff.  Buddhist  fly 
brushes  (PI.  14)  have  the  hair  attached 
directly  to  the  end  of  the  handle.  A  vase 
(PI.  14)  containing  such  a  weapon  and  the 
sacred  fungus  is  the  emblem  of  a  Taoist 
or  Buddhist  scholar.  The  vase  may  also 
contain   a   scroll   and   a   little  brush   or 


44  Chinese  Art 

duster.  Ju-i  sceptres  (PI.  6)  and  libation 
cups  (PI.  14)  are  often  used  alone  as 
symbols.  The  word  "show"  (longevity) 
in  infinite  variety  of  forms  appears  as  a 
decoration  either  alone  or  among  other 
more  or  less  formal  patterns  (PL  14). 
Neither  the  libation  cups  nor  "show" 
symbols  are  exclusively  Taoist. 


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Plate  15 


A  Paragon  of  Filial  Piety 

Collection  of  Sir  A.  W.  Franks,  K.C.B. 


Ill 

Confucianism  and  Scholarly 
Attributes 

"I  do  not  expound  my  teaching  to  any  who 
are  not  eager  to  learn ;  I  do  not  help  out  anyone 
who  is  not  anxious  to  explain  himself;  if  after 
being  shown  one  corner  of  a  subject  a  man 
cannot  go  on  to  discover  the  other  three,  I  do 
not  repeat  the  lesson." — Confucius. 


45 


CHAPTER  III 

CONFUCIANISM   AND   SCHOLARLY 
ATTRIBUTES 

HPHERE  is  comparatively  little  trace 
*  among  Chinese  art  subjects  of  the 
philosophy  founded  by  Confucius  in  the 
sixth  century  B.C.,  which  has  had  such  a 
tremendous  influence  for  good  on  the 
civilization  of  his  country.  The  reason 
is  that  Confucianism  as  such  is  in  itself 
so  abstract,  so  purely  a  theory  of  the 
conduct  of  life,  that  it  cannot  easily  be 
embodied  in  any  symbolic  form.  How- 
ever, as  Confucius  himself  was  a  great 
scholar,  and  as  his  teachings  appealed  to 
the  learned  and  cultured  classes  in  China, 
emblems  of  scholarship  and  articles  of 
daily  use  in  the  study,  employed  as  sym- 

47 


48  Chinese  Art 

bols,  are  indirectly  connected  with  this 
cult. 

Confucius  has  been  rightly  called  the 
"Teacher  of  Ten  Thousand  Ages."  His 
doctrines,  contained  in  the  "Five  Sacred 
Books"  (PI.  1 6),  which  were  edited  by 
him,  are  still  a  beacon  light  to  all  those 
who  are  not  too  buried  in  the  "doing" 
to  be  interested  in  the  "how-to-do." 
The  first  of  these  five — the  Yih  King — 
contains  an  exposition  of  the  Tae-Keih 
which  is  the  symbolic  expression  of  the 
theory  of  changes.  The  Shu  King  treats 
of  the  corner-stones  of  good  government, 
which — if  the  government  is  square 
enough  to  have  four  corners — may  be  clas- 
sified under  the  heads  of  Goodness,  Bene- 
volence, Gravity,  and  Sincerity.  The 
splendid  translation  of  the  third  book — 
the  Shi  King — by  James  Legge,  F.S.A., 
has  brought  to  the  Occident  a  collection 
of  verses  which  may  be  read  for  their  own 


Confucianism  49 

beauty  as  well  as  for  the  characterization 
of  eminent  statesmen  and  fragments  of 
history  with  which  they  deal.  The  Le 
King,  or  Book  of  Ceremony,  lacks  the 
universality  of  appeal,  which  marks  the 
three  volumes  already  mentioned.  It  is, 
however,  an  interesting  reminder  of  those 
fast-vanishing  days  when  actions,  like 
feet,  were  pounded  into  a  mould  and  left 
there  to  "jell."  The  last  of  the  Five 
Sacred  Books  is  the  Chun-tseu,  a  record 
of  events,  which  is  notable  as  being  the 
only  one  of  the  lot  written  entirely  by 
Confucius  himself.  These  books  are  said 
to  owe  their  origin  indirectly  to  certain 
ancient  records  which  were  inscribed  on 
wooden  tablets.  Confucius  gave  these 
relics  such  serious  study  that  he  is  said 
to  have  worn  out  five  copies  of  them 
(PI.  16). 

At  the   time   of   Confucius'  birth,   in 
551  B.C.,  a  fabulous  animal  of  good  omen, 
4 


50  Chinese  Art 

called  the  kylin,  is  said  to  have  appeared. 
It  is  represented  with  a  stag's  body,  an 
ox's  tail,  and  a  unicorn's  horn  in  the 
middle  of  its  forehead.  For  it  was  so 
very,  very  good  that  in  walking  about, 
it  left  no  footprints  for  fear  of  crushing 
some  living  thing.  It  is  looked  upon  as 
the  incarnation  of  the  five  elements. 

In  art,  Confucius  appears  with  a  beard, 
wearing  a  literary  man's  cap,  which  is 
round  in  front — conforming  to  the  shape 
of  the  skull,  with  the  rear  half  higher  and 
square  (PI.  16).  He  may  carry  a  ju-i 
sceptre  or  the  more  usual  scroll  and  brush 
pen.  Sometimes  he  is  one  of  three  figures 
standing  at  a  well.  The  other  two  are 
Laotsze  and  Buddha,  and  their  presence 
there  stands  for  the  broad-minded  con- 
ception that  the  three  religions  originate 
from  the  same  source.  Okakura  quotes 
the  Sung  version  of  the  same  story  in 
which  Laotsze,  Buddha,  and  Confucius 


Confucianism  51 

stand  around  a  jar  of  vinegar.  Each  dips 
in  an  inquiring  finger  and  answers  accord- 
ing to  his  nature.  Laotsze,  the  adapt- 
able, calls  it  sweet;  Buddha,  the  reflective 
says  it  is  bitter;  while  Confucius,  the 
man  of  the  world,  who  cultivates  the 
knack  of  hitting  the  nail  on  the  head, 
speaks  his  mind  and  pronounces  the 
vinegar  sour!  These  Three  Friends,  the 
originators  of  the  three  great  religions  of 
China,  are  symbolized  in  art  by  the  plum, 
bamboo,  and  pine  when  used  together. 

It  is  natural  in  a  philosophy  which 
deals  largely  with  the  proper  conduct  of 
life  and  devotion  to  parents,  that  the 
Twenty-four  Paragons  of  Filial  Piety 
should  be  almost  the  only  objects  of  re- 
presentation. These  stories  have  been 
made  accessible  to  us  by  Mayers  in  his 
valuable  Chinese  Readers'  Manual,  and 
are  an  interesting  parallel  in  some  ways 
to   Sunday-school   literature  of  our  own 


52  Chinese  Art 

day.  They  also  throw  a  searchlight, 
not  only  on  the  paragons,  but  also  on  the 
paragons'  parents. 

In  this  connection  may  be  mentioned 
Kiang-She,  whose  aged  mother  developed 
a  keen  fancy  for  fish,  as  the  river  was 
several  miles  away.  So  each  day  Kiang 
and  his  wife  took  the  walk  and  brought 
back  the  fish.  As  a  reward  to  this  per- 
severing pair  a  spring  made  its  appear- 
ance near  their  house  in  which  was  one 
portion  of  fresh  carp  each  day.  Kiang 
and  his  wife  fortunately  liked  rice. 

Kwoh  Kii  in  his  journey  from  birth  to 
death  also  met  with  an  interesting  if  diffi- 
cult situation.  Provisions  were  low  and 
prices  high  and  the  family  large  and 
hungry.  There  was  not  enough  for  all, 
and  Kwoh  could  not  bear  to  see  his  mother 
starving.  So  he  proposed  to  his  wife 
that  they  bury  one  of  their  children  in 
order  to  give  the  mother  its  share.     No 


Confucianism  53 

objection  was  made  by  any  of  the 
parties  concerned,  who  were  old  enough 
to  know  what  was  going  on.  Kwoh  got 
out  his  shovel  and  began  to  dig.  Sud- 
denly he  struck  something  hard  and 
pulled  up — a  bar  of  gold!  On  it  was 
engraved:  "A  gift  from  Heaven  to  Kwoh 
Ku;  let  none  deprive  him  of  it."  History 
does  not  record  the  name  of  the  engraver, 
but  each  person  is  entitled  to  one  guess. 

Lao-Lai-Tsze  in  his  old  age  found  that 
his  parents  were  losing  interest  in  things 
generally.  So  to  amuse  them  and  create 
the  illusion  that  they  were  once  more  in 
their  youth,  he  dressed  himself  in  boy's 
clothes  and  danced  and  played  before 
them.  A  Chinese  bedstead,  now  in  the 
Bethnal  Green  Museum,  London,  has 
this  scene  on  one  of  its  panels,  done 
in  inlay. 

Telepathy  seems  to  have  been  known 
as  early  as  516  B.C.,  for  Tseng  Shen  and 


54  Chinese  Art 

his  mother  had  such  great  sympathy 
existing  between  them  that  when  she  bit 
her  own  finger,  he  also  felt  the  pain,  even 
though  distant  from  her,  and  he  went  to 
her  immediately,  knowing  that  he  was 
wanted. 

Hwang  Hiang  is  noted  for  his  devotion 
to  his  father.  Hwang's  mother  had  died 
not  long  after  his  birth,  and  he  gave  up 
the  rest  of  his  life  to  waiting  on  his  father, 
with  especial  reference  to  keeping  his 
bed  warm  in  winter  and  cool  in  summer. 

In  order  to  be  a  paragon,  it  was  evi- 
dently necessary  for  the  candidate  to  do 
the  impossible  if  requested.  Meng  Tsung 
is  an  example  in  kind.  It  was  mid- 
winter and  his  mother  desired  bamboo- 
shoots.  As  this  was  before  the  day  of  the 
green-house,  Meng  went  despairingly  into 
the  grove,  looking,  but  there  were  no 
shoots  to  be  found.  He  then  bewailed 
his  inability  to  get  them  in  a  way  that  evi- 


Confucianism  55 

dently  touched  some  supernatural  heart, 
for  all  of  a  sudden,  even  though  the  ther- 
mometer was  low,  bamboo  shoots  began 
to  shoot  and  shoot  all  around  him,  rival- 
ling their  normal  growth  of  an  inch  a  day 
in  spring. 

The  stepmother  steps  in,  in  the  case 
of  Min  Sun.  She  had  several  children 
of  her  own,  and  after  making  their  gar- 
ments, did  not  even  leave  a  remnant  for 
Min.  She  did  the  next  best  thing  how- 
ever, and  made  him  up  a  suit  in  the  pre- 
historic style,  from  leaves.  Min's  father 
loved  him,  and  the  sight  of  one  arboreal 
costume  in  the  midst  of  lovely  silk  ones 
was  too  much  for  his  temper.  He  stormed 
about  and  threatened  to  get  a  divorce. 
But  at  this  juncture,  when  the  nerves  of 
the  whole  family  were  on  edge,  Min  en- 
tered and  moved,  like  Burnham  Wood, 
to  the  centre  of  the  stage:  "Nay,  father, 
do  not  so,  for  it  is  better  that  one  son 


56  Chinese  Art 

should  suffer  from  cold  than  three  child- 
ren should  be  motherless."  It  is  pleas- 
ant to  relate  that  everything  was  patched 
up  by  this  tactful  stroke  and  that  hence- 
forth Min,  perfectly  garbed,  sat  at  the 
stepmother's  right  hand. 

A  novel  sort  of  devotion  was  shown 
by  Wu  Meng,  a  great  magician,  whose 
best  trick  in  later  life  was  to  cross  streams 
at  will  by  a  wave  of  his  fan.  As  a  boy 
it  was  his  custom  to  let  himself  be  bitten 
by  mosquitoes,  thus  monopolizing  their 
attention  while  his  parents  slept.  As 
he  lived  long  enough  to  make  quite 
a  name  for  himself,  it  is  safe  to  as- 
sume that  the  mosquitoes  which  hovered 
about  him  were  neither  anopheles  nor 
stegomyia. 

The  next  paragon  was  an  Emperor  of 
China,  Weng  Ti,  who  took  the  throne  in 
179  B.C.  His  mother  was  ill  for  three 
years,   and  during  all  that  time  Weng 


Confucianism  57 

neither  left  her  bedside  nor  changed 
his  clothes! 

Chu  Show  Ch'ang  was  an  official  of 
the  Sung  Dynasty,  whose  story  would 
touch  any  heart,  however  galvanized. 
His  mother  had  been  put  aside  by  his 
father  during  Chu's  early  boyhood.  As  a 
loyal  and  true  son  he  never  rested  until 
he  had  found  her,  after  a  tireless  search 
lasting  fifty  years. 

A  great  deal  of  stress  is  laid  by  the 
Chinese  on  the  proper  burial  of  the  dead. 
Tung  Yung,  one  of  the  paragons,  mort- 
gaged himself  for  10,000  copper-cash  in 
order  to  pay  the  funeral  expense  of  his 
beloved  father.  After  the  ceremony,  as 
he  was  returning  to  his  home,  he  was 
accosted  by  a  woman  who  offered  him  her- 
self as  wife  and  three  hundred  rolls  of  silk, 
the  value  of  which  covered  his  personal 
mortgage.  He  did  not  refuse  this  oppor- 
tune aid,  but  one  month  later  his  wife 


58  Chinese  Art 

disappeared,  leaving  behind  her  the  cus- 
tomary note.  From  it  Tung  learned  that 
she  was  a  star  sent  by  heaven  to  reward 
him  for  his  unselfish  devotion.  As  she 
left  the  three  hundred  rolls  of  silk  be- 
hind, we  are  forced  to  believe  the  story. 

Wang  Siang  may  be  mentioned  as  an 
historical  example  of  the  good  stepson. 
It  was  bitter  winter  when  he  was  put  to 
test,  and  on  the  snowiest  and  iciest  day 
of  all,  the  stepmother  asked  for  fish.  No 
doubt  Wang  said,  "Isn't  that  like  a 
woman?"  under  his  breath,  but  the  fact 
remains  that  he  walked  out  of  the  house 
and  down  to  the  river.  There,  with 
magnificent  disregard  of  consequences, 
he  stretched  himself  on  the  ice.  The 
historian  does  not  tell  us  exactly  what 
happened,  but  later  in  the  day  he  went 
back  to  his  home,  somewhat  chilly  per- 
haps, but  bearing  in  his  hand  a  fine  pair 
of  carp. 


Confucianism  59 

One  of  the  earliest  ancestors  of  the  raw 
fruit  diet  was  Tsai  Shun,  whose  dietetic 
courage  won  him  his  place  among  the 
paragons.  During  a  famine  he  collected 
berries,  giving  all  the  ripe  ones  to  his 
mother,  and  eating  all  the  green  ones 
himself.  Soon  somebody  died,  but  it  was 
not  Tsai,  greatly  to  our  surprise.  Though 
the  house  was  in  flames  he  refused  to  leave 
his  mother's  bier.  As  she  had  been  very 
much  afraid  of  thunder  during  her  life- 
time, he  used  to  go  to  her  grave  whenever 
there  was  a  storm.  There  he  would  call 
aloud :  "  Be  not  afraid,  mother,  I  am  here." 
His  memory  is  very  much  revered  by  the 
Chinese,  and  statuettes  of  him  are  fre- 
quently found. 

Another  popular  subject  for  statuettes 
is  Kiang  Keh  (PL  15),  who  is  shown  car- 
rying a  woman  on  his  back.  He  is  in- 
cluded among  the  Twenty-four  Examples, 
because  as  a  boy  he  rescued  his  mother 


60  Chinese  Art 

from  robbers,  and  in  order  to  save  her 
from  them  carried  her  for  miles  on  his 
shoulders. 

Today,  Ting  Lan,  Paragon,  would  be 
noted  less  for  himself  than  as  the  husband 
of  a  clever  wife.  In  accordance  with 
the  custom,  an  effigy  of  Ting's  deceased 
mother  was  kept  in  his  house  as  the  ob- 
ject of  his  respect  and  devotion.  One  day 
when  Ting  was  out,  a  friend,  by  way  of 
being  neighbourly,  stepped  in  to  borrow 
something.  As  the  wife  wished  to  shift 
the  responsibility  of  a  refusal,  she  got 
out  the  divining  sticks  and  by  this  means 
asked  the  effigy  if  it  wanted  to  lend  the 
required  article.  It  did  not.  Then  the 
angry  neighbour  struck  the  image  that 
was  denying  him  the  article  needed,  and 
departed,  feeling  more  satisfied.  On 
Ting's  return  he  heard  what  had  hap- 
pened and  went  around  to  the  neighbour's 
house  at  once,  walking  rapidly.     History 


Confucianism  61 

does  not  state  exactly  what  took  place, 
but  it  is  doubtful  from  published  accounts, 
if  the  neighbour  ever  tried  to  borrow 
anything  more  from  Ting's  wife's  mother- 
in-law's  effigy. 

The  remaining  examples  of  Filial  Piety 
are  not  distinctive  enough  to  find  their 
way  into  the  field  of  art  except  on  rare 
occasions,  if  at  all.  Yu  Kien  Low  (500 
a.d.),  a  prominent  official,  Hwang  Ting 
Kien  (1075-1105  a.d.),  a  famous  poet  of 
high  rank,  and  Chung  Yco  (180  B.C.),  a 
disciple  of  Confucius,  are  included  in  the 
list  for  some  act  of  piety  to  their  parents. 
Wang  Ngai  is  remembered  as  having 
screened  his  mother's  grave  from  storms, 
while  Luk  Su  (first  century  a.d.),  was  a 
political  prisoner  whose  devotion  to  his 
mother  earned  him  his  freedom. 

As  the  tendency  of  Confucian  teachings 
was  largely  cultural  it  seems  suitable  to 
mention  in  this  connection  a  popular  art 


62  Chinese  Art 

motive  known  as  the  Four  Elegant  Ac- 
complishments, which  are  chess,  music, 
poetry,  and  calligraphy.  Sometimes  these 
form  the  principal  decoration  of  a  plate 
or  vase  when  they  are  represented  by 
groups  of  people  playing  chess  and  musical 
instruments,  and  looking  at  books  and 
pictures.  Frequently  only  the  symbols 
themselves  appear  (PL  14).  In  this  case 
the  chess-board  is  always  shown  with  two 
globular  vases  near  by  which  contains 
the  chess-men. 

The  fittings  of  a  writing-table,  when 
used  as  symbols,  are  meant  to  suggest 
scholarship  or  learning.  Among  these 
may  be  mentioned  water  bowls  with 
spoons  for  moistening  the  ink-cake  (PL 
16),  brush -rests  (PL  16),  and  ink-slabs 
(PL  16)  of  various  kinds  with  or  without 
brushes.  When  a  cake  of  ink,  shaped  like 
an  axe,  is  combined  in  the  same  design 
with  a  brush-pen  and  a  ju-i  sceptre  (PL  16), 


A 


y— 


»-H 


J 


O 


<*^~ 


Plate  17 


Bodhidharma— His  Spirit  Crossing  the  Sea  on  a  Reed 


Confucianism  63 

their  three  Chinese  names  form  a  synonym 
for  "may  things  happen  as  you  desire." 
The  Four  Treasures  of  the  Writing-Table 
have  attained  the  dignity  of  being  a 
special  motive.  The  treasures  usually 
selected  for  this  are  the  ink-cake,  paper, 
brush-pen,  and  a  slab  of  stone,  wood,  or 
other  material  on  which  the  ink  is  dis- 
solved in  sufficient  quantity  for  use. 
Seals  sometimes  appear  showing  either 
in  profile  or  from  the  bottom  (PI.  16). 
The  imperial  seal  was  of  jade  with  a 
dragon  for  a  handle. 

Among  other  things  appropriate  to 
the  scholar  were  incense  burning  and 
music.  A  special  incense-burning  set 
(PI.  16)  is  of  frequent  appearance  and 
consists  of  a  burner,  a  small  box  for 
the  incense,  and  a  vase  which  holds  a  tiny 
shovel  of  fanciful  shape,  and  two  metal 
rods  with  which  to  handle  the  hot  ash. 
This  is  called  the  Set  of  Three.     Another 


64  Chinese  Art 

group  in  which  the  incense  burner  plays 
a  prominent  part  is  the  Set  of  Five,  which 
also  includes  a  pair  of  candlesticks  and 
two  flower  vases  all  made  in  correct  pro- 
portion. The  incense  burner  in  this  in- 
stance usually  has  a  perforated  top  and 
the  set  is  destined  for  use  in  temples 
devoted  not  only  to  Confucian  worship 
but  to  other  religions  as  well. 

The  pair  of  sacrificial  wine  cups  shown 
on  PI.  1 6  are  connected  with  the  Con- 
fucian religion.  Music  played  no  small 
part  in  the  lives  of  cultivated  Chinese, 
and  in  ancient  times  string  instruments 
were  the  symbol  of  joy,  while  wind  instru- 
ments denoted  sorrow.  The  lute  (PL  18), 
a  long  coffin-shaped  affair,  which  resembles 
the  Japanese  koto,  is  frequently  shown 
on  pottery,  wrapped  in  a  brocaded  cover- 
ing or  bag.  The  biwa  (PI.  18)  is  of  fre- 
quent appearance,  also  a  small  musical 
instrument   (PI.  18)   which  appears  in  a 


Confucianism  65 

vase  among  emblems  of  scholarship. 
Other  subjects  belonging  to  the  realm  of 
the  scholar  are  the  box  for  dominoes  (PL 
18)  and  the  famous  round  glass,  amber 
or  stone  bottles  with  flat  sides  (PI.  18), 
used  to  contain  snuff! 


IV 

Buddhist  and  Non-Religious 
Art  Motives 

"Well-makers  lead  the  water  whither  they 
will ;  fletchers  bend  the  arrow ;  wise  people  fashion 
themselves.  Having  listened  to  the  law  they 
become  serene,  like  a  deep,  smooth,  and  still 
lake. " — Sakyamuni. 


67 


CHAPTER  IV 

BUDDHIST    AND    NON-RELIGIOUS    SUBJECTS 
IN   ART 

A  LTHOUGH  Buddhismhas  been  known 
in  China  at  least  as  far  back  as 
217  b.  c,  and  although  sacred  pictures  and 
scriptures  of  that  Faith  were  brought  into 
China  during  the  Han  Dynasty,  as  well 
as  on  later  occasions,  it  was  not  until 
520  a.d.,  when  Bodhidharma  arrived  from 
India,  that  the  Art  of  the  Empire  was  in 
any  great  degree  influenced  by  Buddhist 
motives,  which  had  hitherto  been  un- 
known. 

New   divinities   immediately   took   on 

Chinese    characteristics    without    losing 

a  distinctive  Aryan  look,   which  was  in 

striking  contrast  to  the  coarse  features  of 

69 


70  Chinese  Art 

the  gods  who  had  their  origin  in  China. 
Large  ear-lobes,  the  symbol  of  wisdom, 
are  a  feature  of  Buddhist  deities  that 
are  clad  in  flowing  garments  which  add 
a  new  element  of  grace  wherever  they 
appear. 

Bodhidharma,  an  Indian  prince,  arrived 
in  Honan  province  in  520  a.d.  He  set- 
tled in  Loyang,  an  ancient  capital,  and 
died  there  after  a  life  of  contemplation. 
He  is  often  represented  in  all  forms  of 
Chinese  art  as  a  man  with  a  short  beard 
and  earnest,  characterful  face.  The  in- 
tensity of  his  glance  is  remarkable  and 
is  a  striking  element  in  all  his  pictures 
or  statuettes.  He  frequently  carries  the 
patra  or  Buddhist  alms  bowl,  and  is  often 
shown  on  his  pathetic  spirit-journey  back 
to  his  homeland,  when  he  crossed  the  sea 
standing  on  a  reed  (PI.  17).  Statuettes 
sometimes  show  him  with*a  sandal  near 
him  or  in  his  hand,  dropped  from  the 


Buddhist  and  Non-Religious     71 

foot  that  had  withered  away  during  his 
long  period  of  contemplation.  This  habit 
of  absorbing  thought  earned  him  the 
title  of  the  Sage  Who  Looks  at  the  Wall. 

An  epitome  of  Buddhism  is  given  in 
graphic  form  by  the  vase  (PL  18).  This 
is  probably  a  form  of  the  alms  bowl,  and 
appears  as  a  symbol,  itself  symbolizing 
the  important  points  of  the  Buddhist 
religion. 

The  vase  is  divided  into  four  conspicu- 
ous divisions,  which  stand  for  the  Four 
Noble  Truths: — (1)  Suffering  exists  from 
birth  to  old  age ;  (2)  The  origin  of  suffer- 
ing is  desire;  (3)  Emancipation  from  suf- 
fering comes  by  the  cessation  of  desire; 
(4)  Freedom  from  suffering  is  attained 
by  virtuous  living. 

The  three  legs  upon  which  the  vase 
stands  symbolize  the  Three  Evidences  of 
True  Religion,  which  are:  Hear  no  evil; 
See  no  evil;  Speak  no  evil.     The  cover 


72  Chinese  Art 

with  its  ten  scallops,  of  which  five  only  are 
shown,  indicate  what  is  called  Avoiding 
the  Ten  Evils — precepts  which  are  very 
similar  to  the  Ten  Commandments  of  the 
Christian  religion. 

The  seven  petals  of  the  lotus  flower, 
half-way  up  the  stem,  represent  the  Seven 
Jewels  of  the  Law :  ( I )  Purity  as  shown  in 
deep  meditation ;  (2)  Calmness  as  evinced 
in  the  struggle  against  evil;  (3)  Comprehen- 
sion manifested  in  the  desire  to  become 
holy;  (4)  Complete  happiness  produced  by 
moral  strength ;  (5)  Wisdom  shown  by  the 
developing  of  spiritual  faculties;  (6)  Per- 
fection brought  about  by  absolute  wisdom; 
(7)  Enlightenment  evinced  by  righteous- 
ness. The  five-petaled  lotus  which  crowns 
the  top  of  the  stem  is  the  emblem  of  the 
Five  Attributes  of  Being:  Matter,  Sensa- 
tion, Perception,  Discrimination,  and  Con- 
sciousness. Was  there  ever  a  vase  that 
told  so  much? 


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>-> 


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¥ 


3  r— < 

I T  S"- 


A 


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<£>-    = 


01 


Buddhist  and  Non-Religious    73 

The  divine  Buddha  himself  may  be 
depicted  in  any  one  or  all  three  of  his 
phases,  as  the  Sakyamuni,  the  Amitabha, 
or  the  Maitreya. 

Sakyamuni  is  the  personal  Buddha, 
the  actual  man,  who,  by  dint  of  resisting 
great  temptations,  passed  through  many 
transmigratory  states  before  attaining 
Buddhahood.  As  a  Boddhisattva,  or 
next  step  but  one  from  Buddha,  he  selected 
the  pure  and  good  Mayo  of  Kapilavastu 
as  his  mother-to-be.  At  the  time  of 
his  painless  birth,  when  he  stepped 
from  her  right  side,  there  were  many  re- 
markable occurrences,  such  as  flashes  of 
coloured  light,  and  earthquakes  which 
announced  to  the  world  the  coming  of  the 
Buddha. 

He  left  his  work  on  earth  to  seek  and 
save  his  mother  in  the  land  of  the  departed, 
and  during  his  long  absence  a  statue  was 
made  of  him  by  his  faithful  followers.     On 


74  Chinese  Art 

Sakyamuni's  return  from  his  quest  the 
statue  saluted  him,  and  at  that  moment  he 
uttered  a  prophecy  which  had  its  fulfil- 
ment after  a  campaign  in  Asia,  when  the 
monster  statue  was  carried  to  the  Court 
of  China  in  121  B.C.  After  his  death, 
flame  burst  out  of  the  swastika  on  his 
breast  and  consumed  his  body,  which 
ordinary  fire  was  unable  to  affect.  Thus 
it  is  that  the  swastika  (PI.  18)  which,  to 
the  Chinese,  means  "ten  thousand  ages" 
or  "things,"  is  also  the  symbol  of  the 
sacred  heart  of  Buddha.  He  prophesied 
that  the  alms  bowl,  or  patra,  which  he 
carried  was  to  go  through  many  adven- 
tures, and  was  finally  to  land  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  sea  to  await  the  Maitreya  or 
coming  Buddha.  At  that  time  it  is  to 
divide  into  four  parts,  each  of  which  must 
be  sacredly  guarded,  for  with  the  disap- 
pearance of  the  alms  bowl,  Buddhism 
will  perish  from  the  earth. 


Buddhist  and  Non-Religious    75 

Other  symbols  connected  directly  with 
Sakyamuni  are :  the  jewel  on  his  forehead 
which  illumines  every  universe;  the  fig- 
tree — sacred  because  he  meditated  be- 
neath it  for  a  day  and  a  night  when  he 
dreamed  that  he  had  become  a  Buddha; 
the  thirty-two  mystic  tracings  on  his  skin ; 
and  the  sixty-five  emblems  on  the  soles 
of  his  feet. 

The  Eight  Buddhist  Symbols  (PI.  19) 
speedily  become  familiar  to  a  student  of 
Chinese  art  from  a  motive  selected  from 
the  sixty-five  mentioned  above.  These 
usually  appear  decorated  with  fillets  or 
ribbons  as  a  token  of  their  sanctity. 
They  are: 

1.  Lotus    flower,    emblem    of  purity 

out  of  the  unclean. 

2.  Covered  vase,  a  sort  of  reliquary, 

3.  Conch  shell,   anciently   carried  by 

mariners  as  an  omen  for  a  safe 
journey. 


76  Chinese  Art 

4.  Two    fishes,    emblem  of   domestic 

happiness  and  faithfulness. 

5.  Official  umbrella,  always  an  emblem 

of  official  authority  in  the  East. 

6.  Canopy,  symbol  of  sovereign  rank 

because  carried  over  rulers  and 
viceroys  on  state  occasions. 

7.  Bell,  used  in  temple  services  to  at- 

tract the  attention  of  the  gods, 
or  possibly  the  crystal  bell  heard 
by  mystics  at  the  time  of  the 
death  of  a  mortal;  or  wheel  of 
the  law,  sometimes  used  instead 
of  a  bell — probably  a  symbol 
of  the  prayer-wheel — a  sort  of 
revolving  bookcase,  one  revolu- 
tion of  which  is  equal  to  a  read- 
ing of  the  sacred  books  contained 
in  the  case. 

8.  Knot,   representing  the  intestines 

and  therefore  an  emblem  of  lon- 
gevity. 


Buddhist  and  Non-Religious    77 

Bushell  gives  an  excellent  classification 
of  the  representations  of  Sakyamuni  as 
follows : 

"Birth — the  infant  stands  erect  on 
lotus  thalamus,  pointing  upward  with  the 
right  hand  and  downward  with  the  left. 

"Sakyamuni  returning  from  the  moun- 
tains— he  is  ascetic  in  aspect,  with  a 
beard  and  shaven  poll,  flowing  garments, 
and  hands  in  a  position  of  prayer.  His 
brow  bears  the  'Urna'  or  luminous  mark 
which  distinguishes  a  Buddha. 

"All-wise  Sakyamuni — seated  cross- 
legged  on  a  lotus-throne,  left  hand  upon 
knee,  right  hand  raised  in  mystic  preach- 
ing pose.  Hair  generally  represented  as  a 
blue  mass,  composed  of  short,  close  curls. 
The  jewel  is  midway  between  the  crown 
and  forehead. 

"  A  pair  of  mandarin  ducks  or  a  butter- 
fly have  the  same  significance. 

"The    Nirvana — a    recumbent    figure 


78  Chinese  Art 

lying  on  a  raised  bench,  with  head  pil- 
lowed on  a  lotus. 

"In  the  Sakyamuni  Trinity,  he  is  either 
erect  or  seated  in  an  attitude  of  medita- 
tion, with  an  alms  bowl  in  his  hands,  be- 
tween his  spiritual  sons  the  Boddhisattvas 
and  Samantabhadra — the  three  forming 
a  mystic  triad." 

A  frequent  Buddhist  art  subject  is 
known  as  the  Seven  Gems  of  the  Universal 
Monarch.  These  are  often  to  be  found 
on  the  borders  of  cups  or  plates  (PI.  20). 
They  are: 

(1)  The  white  elephant  which  carries 
the  jewel  of  the  law,  or  the  sacred  patra 
(PI.  18). 

(2)  The  bundle  of  jewelled  rods  which 
fulfill  every  wish.  These  are  undoubtedly 
the  divining  rods  used  to  this  day  in 
Oriental  religions. 

(3)  The  general. 

(4)  The  divine  guardian  of  the  treasury. 


Plate  20 


Seven  Gems  of  Universal  Monarch 


Plate  21 


Ho-Shang,  God  of  Contentment  and  Riches 

Collection  of  Sir  A.   W.  Franks,   K.C.B. 


Buddhist  and  Non-Religious    79 

(5)  Lovely  consorts. 

(6)  The  horse. 

(7)  The  golden  wheel. 

Amitabha  Buddha  is  the  heavenly- 
counterpart  of  Sakyamuni,  and  is  an 
impersonal  deity  representing  boundless 
and  eternal  light.  In  an  old  painting  of 
the  Sung  Dynasty,  he  is  depicted  as  a 
beautiful  luminous  creature  holding  a 
water  bowl  and  spoon,  sitting  at  the  head 
of  living  water  which  flows  from  the  rocks 
beneath  his  feet,  thus  symbolizing  "the 
origin  of .  "  In  statues  Amitabha  usually 
wears  a  halo  and  stands  on  a  lotus  pedes- 
tal. Sometimes  he  holds  a  cord  with 
which  to  rescue  his  followers. 

Maitreya — the  third  form  of  Buddha — 
is  yet  to  appear  on  earth,  like  the 
Messiah  of  Jewish  tradition.  Statuettes 
of  Ho  Shang  are  considered  by  many 
to  be  representations  of  the  Maitreya, 
although    they    lack    the    dignity    with 


80  Chinese  Art 

which  one  would  expect  to  find  this  deity 
invested. 

The  sixteen  arhats  are  the  disciples 
nearest  to  Buddha,  chosen  from  the  five 
hundred  who  have  freed  themselves  from 
the  shackles  of  transmigration.  When 
Ho  Shang  and  Dharmatrata  are  included, 
the  number  is  extended  to  eighteen. 
Jacquemart  says  that  the  legends  con- 
nected with  these  men  cannot  antedate 
the  eighth  century.  Their  names  as  spelled 
here  are  so  original  and  delightful  that 
no  commentator  since  their  Occidental 
discoverer  has  had  either  the  courage  or 
the  wish  to  bring  the  spelling  into  line 
with  other  Anglo-Saxon  specimens  of  the 
Chinese  language.  As  there  are  so  many 
in  this  group,  they  rarely  appear  on 
pottery,  but  are  usually  to  be  found  in 
carvings,  paintings  or  large  pieces  of 
lacquer.  They  may  be  recognized  by 
their  attributes: 


Buddhist  and  Non-Religious    81 

(i)     Noh  Chu  Na  sits  on  a  bench  with 
a  rosary  in  his  hand. 

(2)  Poh  Sho-Lo  is  accompanied  by  a 

tiger. 

(3)  Pan  Sho-Chia  holds  a  pearl  which 

a  dragon  is  trying  to  reach. 

(4)  Chia  Noh  Chia  Fa  T'Sho  carries 

a  fly-brush  and  is  seated  in  a 
chair. 

(5)  Poh  Li  Toh  Sho  carries  a  scroll, 

and  has  attendant  with  a  gong. 

(6)  Su  Pin  Sho  sits  on  a  mat,  his  hands 

on  his  knees. 

(7)  Chia  Li  Chia  stands  on  a  rock, 

holding  a  scroll. 

(8)  Fa  Sho  Lo  Fo  Sho  Lo  is  seated  on 

a  stool  and  carries  a  knotted 
staff. 

(9)  Shu  Po  Chia  is  sometimes  accom- 

panied by  a  lion.     He  sits  be- 
fore a  lotus  pedestal. 

(10)  Yin  Chie  Sho  holds  a  ju-i  sceptre, 

6 


82  Chinese  Art 

an  attendant  carries  his  staff 
with  fish  on  the  end  of  it. 
(n)     O  Sh'to  holds  a  staff.     A  vase 
with  peonies  stands  before  him. 

(12)  Chu  Shu  Pan  Sho  Chia  is  seated 

on  a  mat  bearing  a  fly -brush. 

(13)  La  Hu  La  is  seated  before  a  lotus 

pedestal  with  his  hands  folded. 

(14)  Na  Chie  Si  Na  holds  a  patra  from 

which  flowing  water  ascends. 

(15)  Pin  Tu  Loh  Poh  To  Sho  stands 

on  a  rock  with  tablets  and  fly- 
brush. 

(16)  Fa  Na  Pho  Tsy  looks  at  a  vase 

in  which  there  is  a  peach  branch 
without  leaves. 

(17)  Dharmatrata  is  a  lay  devotee. 

He  carries  a  vase  and  fly 
whisk,  and  a  bundle  of  books 
on  his  back.  His  hair  is  long 
and  he  gazes  intently  at  an 
image  of  Amitabha   Buddha. 


Buddhist  and  Non-Religious    83 

Ho  Shang  (PI.  21)  is  known  as  the 
Bonze  with  the  Hempen  Bag.  He  carries 
a  rosary  and  leans  against  a  sack.  He  is 
looked  upon  as  the  God  of  Contentment 
or  Riches,  or  as  a  representation  of  Mai- 
treya  Buddha.  In  life  he  is  supposed 
to  have  been  the  Buddhist  priest  Putai 
whose  last  words  were:  "The  God!  The 
True  God!  He  dwells  in  the  hearts  of 
billions  of  souls  yet  they  know  it  not!" 

Kuan-yin  (PI.  22)  is  a  great  favourite  in 
the  Buddhist  pantheon,  and  may  be  male 
or  female.  The  most  usual  and  popular 
representation  of  this  goddess  is  a  beau- 
tiful and  gracious  woman,  who  holds  a 
child  in  her  arms  and  wears  a  rosary 
around  her  neck.  She  is  the  Chinese 
equivalent  of  India's  Avalokita,  and  when 
represented  in  that  form,  she  is  shown 
with  several  heads  and  four,  eighteen,  or 
forty  hands,  with  which  she  strives  to 
alleviate  the  sufferings  of  the  unhappy. 


84  Chinese  Art 

The  Chinese  Kuan-yin  was  said  to  have 
been  the  daughter  of  a  king — Chang  Wang 
of  the  Chow  Dynasty  (696  B.C.).  He 
strenuously  opposed  her  wish  to  become 
a  nun,  and  was  so  irritated  by  her  refusal 
to  marry  that  he  put  her  to  humiliating 
tasks  in  the  convent,  no  doubt  that  she 
might  see  the  life  for  herself.  This  means 
of  coercion  failed,  and  her  father  then 
ordered  her  to  be  executed  for  disobe- 
dience to  his  wishes.  But  the  executioner, 
who  was  evidently  a  man  of  tender  heart 
and  some  forethought,  probably  brought 
it  about  that  the  sword  which  was  to 
descend  upon  her  should  break  into  a 
thousand  pieces.  Her  father  was  not 
balked  by  a  little  thing  like  that  and  or- 
dered her  to  be  stifled.  As  the  story  goes 
she  forthwith  went  to  Hell,  but  on  her 
arrival  the  flames  were  quenched  and 
flowers  burst  into  bloom.  Yama,  the 
presiding  officer,  looked  on  in  dismay  at 


Buddhist  and  Non-Religious    85 

what  seemed  to  be  the  summary  abolition 
of  his  post,  and  in  order  to  keep  his  posi- 
tion he  sent  her  back  to  life  again.  Car- 
ried in  the  fragrant  heart  of  a  lotus  flower 
she  went  to  the  island  of  Potola  near 
Ningpo.  One  day  her  father  fell  ill  and 
according  to  a  Chinese  custom,  not  so 
rare  as  one  might  suppose,  she  cut  the 
flesh  from  her  arms  that  it  might  be  made 
into  medicine.  A  cure  was  effected,  and 
in  his  gratitude  her  father  ordered  her 
statue  to  be  made,  "with  completely- 
formed  arms  and  eyes."  Owing  to  a 
misunderstanding  of  the  orders  the  sculp- 
tor carved  the  statue  with  many  heads 
and  many  arms,  and  so  it  remains  to  this 
day. 

Kuan-yin  is  the  Goddess  of  Mercy,  and 
whether  seated  on  a  rock  near  the  water, 
or  standing  in  majesty,  a  vase  containing 
a  spray  of  leaves  is  usually  beside  her. 
Sometimes  two  tfrty  children  stand  at  her 


86  Chinese  Art 

feet  praying.  She  is  frequently  accom- 
panied by  Manjusri,  the  God  of  Wisdom 
mounted  on  a  lion,  and  Samantabhadra 
the  All-good  who  rides  an  elephant  and 
carries  a  ju-i  sceptre.  The  elephant  has 
therefore  become  the  symbol  of  Bod- 
dhisattvas,  the  class  of  saints  who  have 
to  pass  through  human  life  but  once 
more  before  becoming  Buddhas.  The 
elephant  is  also  the  bearer  of  the  jewel  of 
the  law  or  the  sacred  patra  (PI.  18). 

The  lion  in  Chinese  art  is  usually 
moulded  in  a  drippling  smile,  with  a  pair 
of  cubs  playing  about  its  feet.  It  is 
properly  a  Buddhist  emblem  and  stands 
at  the  gateway  of  temples  to  scare  off  evil 
spirits.  It  usually  toys  with  a  ball  and 
looks  so  much  like  a  stuffed  puppy  that 
it  is  often  spoken  of  as  a  dog  of  Foh — or 
Buddha. 

As  it  is  considered  wrong  for  a  Buddhist 
to  kill  any  living  thing,  many  priests  carry 


Plate  22 


Kuan-Yin,  Goddess  of  Mercy 
o!  R.  H.  Ben  i  a,  E    i- 


Plate  23 


Vase  with  Symbols  (Reverse) 

Collection  of  G.   W.   Salting,  Esq. 


Buddhist  and  Non-Religious    87 

a  standard  to  which  are  attached  jangling 
metal  rings  (PI.  18).  This  is  meant  as  a 
warning  to  pedestrian  insects  who  are 
thus  enabled  to  get  out  of  the  way. 
Another  priestly  weapon  is  the  quadruple 
vajra  sceptre  (PI.  20)  which  owing  to  its 
pleasing  and  symmetrical  form  sometimes 
appears  as  an  art  motive  (PI.  20).  It 
represents  the  sceptre  of  Indra  with 
which  he  used  to  rout  the  enemies  of 
Buddhism  in  his  character  as  "Church 
Militant."  It  is  brandished  during  re- 
ligious services  in  order  to  terrify  evil 
spirits  who  may  be  in  the  vicinity.  The 
fly-brush  (PI.  14)  is  used  in  a  similar  way 
by  Buddhist  priests,  who  are  pestered, 
in  order  to  break  connection  with  any 
polluting  influence. 

A  symbol  of  frequent  appearance  is  a 
pair  of  rings  linked  together.  There  is  a 
difference  of  opinion  as  to  their  signifi- 
cance, but  they  may  represent  the  ear- 


88  Chinese  Art 

rings  of  an  arhat,  or  symbolize  the  one- 
ness of  male  and  female.  If  there  is  but 
one  ring,  and  that  a  thicker  one,  it  may 
be  a  jade  ornament  which  is  worn  with 
certain  Buddhist  priest  robes. 

A  flower  which  connotes  Buddhism  is 
the  finger  citron,  so  called  because  the 
form  taken  by  its  petals  resembles  a 
classic  position  of  Buddha's  hand  with  the 
index  and  little  finger  pointing  upward. 

Several  well-known  motives  frequently 
appear  in  poetry,  lacquer,  or  embroidery 
that  are  not  of  religious  origin.  For 
example  the  Virtuous  Heroines  occasion- 
ally make  their  appearance  in  public. 
They  form  the  subject  of  a  classic  work 
by  Liu  Hiang,  who  lived  during  the  Han 
Dynasty.  There  are  also  the  Lovers  of 
the  Chrysanthemum  or  Lotus  who  are 
always  shown  in  the  vicinity  of  these 
lovely    blossoms.     The    poet    Li    Tai-po 


Buddhist  and  Non-Religious     89 

was  a  lover  of  the  lotus  flower  as  well  as 
the  wineskin,  and  was  such  a  favourite 
at  Court  and  so  greatly  beloved  for  a 
while,  that  the  Emperor  and  his  ministers 
used  to  wait  on  him  until  they  finally  got 
tired  of  it  and  quit.  He  is  usually  found 
in  a  semi-doze,  with  the  wineskin  or  lotus 
flowers  not  far  off. 

There  are  of  course  an  infinite  number 
of  scenes  represented  in  all  forms  of 
Chinese  art  whose  scope  is  co-extensive 
with  the  actual  history  of  China  itself. 
No  mere  man  or  woman  could  know  them 
all.  It  is  possible,  however,  for  a  normal 
brain,  when  properly  informed,  to  make 
certain  deductions  about  the  people  on  his 
plate,  her  embroidered  plaque,  or  their 
lacquered  cabinet — which  puts  life  into 
even  the  humblest  piece.  It  is  always 
easy,  however,  to  guess  from  the  generous 
sprinkling  of  symbols  which  character- 
izes  Chinese   art,   whether   the   pictured 


9Q 


Chinese  Art 


people  are  Taoist  or  Buddhist  or  Aca- 
demic. 

Old  embroidered  or  brocade  plaques 
taken  from  the  breast  or  back  of  worn-out 
Chinese  official  robes  are  often  purchased 
by  travellers  in  the  Far  East.  They  are 
usually  very  artistic  and  become  doubly 
interesting  when  their  significance  is 
known.  Birds  indicate  the  Civil  Service, 
animals  the  Army  and  Navy.  The  de- 
coration chosen  for  the  weave  as  well  as 
the  girdle-clasp  worn  was  an  indication 
of  rank  as  follows: 


Grade:  Military:  Civil  Service:      Belt  Buckles: 
ist      unicorn     pelican  jade  set  in  rubies 

2d       lion  golden  hen         gold  set  in 

rubies 
3d       panther     peacock  chased  gold 

4th      tiger  crane  chased        gold 

with     chased 

silver  button 

5th      bear  white  pheasant  chased        gold 

with  plain  sil- 
ver button. 


Buddhist  and  Non-Religious    91 

Grade:  Military:  Civil  Service:       Belt  Buckles: 
6th      tiger  stork  mother  of  pearl 

7th      rhinoceros  mandarin  duck  silver 
8th      seal  quail  translucent 

horn 
9th      sea-horse  long-tailed  jay    buffalo  horn 


Historical  Outline 

"In  the  mulberry  tree  still  bides  the  dove 
And  now  on  thorn  trees  are  her  brood. 
A  virtuous  man  our  Chief  doth  prove, 
Of  faultless  rectitude; 
And  by  such  rectitude 
Is  all  his  land  reformed,  renewed. " 

Odes  oj  Tsau. 


93 


CHAPTER  V 

HISTORICAL  OUTLINE 

A     BOOK   dealing  with  any   phase  of 

Chinese  art  would    be  incomplete 

without  at  least  a  sketching  in  of  the  rise 

and  fall  of  the  last  four  dynasties  in  which 

art  has  made  such  great  strides. 

The  Sung  Dynasty  (960-1127  a.d.)  has 
been  generally  recognized  as  the  most 
fruitful  period  of  Chinese  history  from  the 
humanist  standpoint.  It  was  founded  by 
T'ai  Tsu  whose  birth  was  attended  with 
celestial  manifestations,  which  were  said 
by  his  mother  to  be  an  omen  of  his  future 
importance.  As  she  happened  to  be  an 
Empress,  the  populace  was  only  too  will- 
ing to  believe  her.  Immediately  after 
his  accession  he  gave  a  splendid  banquet 
95 


96  Chinese  Art 

to  which  he  invited  those  generals  who 
might  have  become  possible  contestants 
for  his  throne.  With  the  salad — when 
they  were  all  in  the  best  of  humour — he 
suggested  that  their  families  should  inter- 
marry with  his  own.  With  the  dessert 
he  proposed  that  all  those  present  should 
lay  down  their  arms.  From  the  success 
of  his  suggestions  he  may  be  looked  on  as 
one  of  the  earliest  historical  exponents  of 
the  theory  that  the  way  to  a  man's  heart 
lies  through  his  stomach. 

During  this  dynasty  colleges  were 
opened  throughout  the  Empire  where 
students  who  wished  to  pass  the  examina- 
tions had  to  be  able  to  write  a  poetical 
composition,  an  essay  on  a  famous  his- 
torical character,  and  to  have  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  history.  This  sounds  easy 
enough  compared  to  the  Western  require- 
ments of  today,  which  range  from  the 
astronomy    of    the    Outer-most    to    the 


Historical  Outline  97 

psychology  of  the  Inner-most.  One 
should  stop  to  consider,  however,  that 
the  Chinese  alphabet  or  syllabary  con- 
tains a  mere  bagatelle  of  twenty  thousand 
characters,  and  even  were  it  treated  with 
a  rabid  application  of  the  pruning  knife, 
the  student  would  still  find  in  his  hands 
a  large  number  of  unavoidable  ideo- 
graphs. 

Having  mastered  this  primary  work  he 
would  no  doubt  be  promoted  to  history 
only  to  be  dealt  another  deadly  blow. 
For  out  of  the  myriad  ages  of  China's 
national  life  the  events  of  the  Tang 
Dynasty  (618-906  a.d.)  alone  occupy 
225  volumes,  while  the  poetical  works  of 
this  same  single  epoch  have  been  com- 
pressed into  a  dainty  little  de  luxe,  num- 
bering nine  hundred  books  in  all. 

So  greatly  reverenced  was  the  cult  of 
the  scholar  in  the  Sung  period  that  in 
a.d.  979  the  Emperor  ennobled  the  past 


98  Chinese  Art 

descendants  of  Confucius  for  forty-five 
generations. 

A  series  of  misfortunes  finally  drove  the 
Sung  monarchs  into  the  South,  where 
they  made  their  capital  at  Nanking. 
With  the  Mongolian  invasion  about  1276, 
the  sun  of  the  Sungs  began  to  look  to  the 
entering  hordes  like  a  total  eclipse. 

The  Yuan  Dynasty  (1 280-1368  a.d.) 
was  next  instituted  in  China  by  the  Mon- 
gol Kublai  Khan  with  a  capital  at  Peking. 
He  was  an  ardent  Buddhist  and  selected 
an  impartial  board  to  investigate  the 
Taoist  religion.  They  reported  that  Tao- 
ism was  completely  corrupt,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  Tao-teh-king  by  Laotsze. 
Whereupon  Kublai  ordered  that  all  Tao- 
ist belongings  should  be  burned.  Wen 
Tien-Siang,  the  loyal  Nogi  of  ancient 
China,  had  remained  faithful  to  the 
Sungs,  and  as  the  refusal  of  allegiance  by 
such  a  widely-known  man  undoubtedly 


Historical  Outline  99 

rankled  in  Kublai's  autocratic  heart,  he 
was  thrown  into  prison.  A  popular  clam- 
our soon  arose  in  his  behalf,  and  Kublai 
gave  the  magnificent  old  man  a  chance  to 
deny  the  old  masters  and  join  with  the 
new.  However,  Wen  stated  that  he  had 
no  further  desire  to  live  and  begged  to  be 
put  to  death.  Kublai  obligingly  had  this 
done,  and  fragments  of  his  dress  were 
treasured  ever  after  by  the  devoted 
people.  On  his  robe  he  had  written  a 
saying  of  Confucius: 

"The  scholar  and  the  virtuous  man  will 
not  desire  to  live  at  the  expense  of  their 
virtue.  They  will  on  the  contrary  give 
up  their  lives  to  possess  it." 

There  was  also  a  saying  from  Mencius, 
the  disciple  of  Confucius:  "I  am  fond  of 
fish  and  also  of  bear's  paws.  If  I  can- 
not get  them  both  I  will  dispense  with  the 
fish  and  take  the  bear's  paws.  In  a  like 
manner  I  have  a  desire  for  life  and  I  also 


ioo  Chinese  Art 

love  righteousness.  If  I  cannot  retain 
them  both  I  will  sacrifice  life  and  hold 
on  to  righteousness. " 

A  successor  of  Kublai's  was  so  much 
impressed  by  the  teachings  of  Confucius 
that  he  had  his  writings  translated  into 
Mongol  and — as  a  little  hint — gave  a 
copy  of  the  book  on  Filial  Piety  to  each 
of  his  immediate  relatives. 

It  was  not  long  before  literature  and 
the  arts  began  to  be  neglected  and  the 
splendid  school  system  to  fall  into  decay. 
A  tremendous  secret  society  known  as  the 
"White  Lily"  monopolized  public  atten- 
tion, ostensibly  for  the  worship  of  Kuan- 
yin,  but  in  reality  for  political  motives. 
The  leader  declared  that  the  goddess 
would  give  them  aid  and  free  them  from 
the  Mongols — if  they  were  willing  to  do 
their  share  of  the  work.  The  large  revolt 
which  followed  was  the  cause  of  the  Yuan 
downfall. 


Historical  Outline  101 

The  Ming  Dynasty  (1368-1644  a.d.)  was 
next  to  come,  with  its  capital  at  Nanking. 
T'ai  Tsu,  the  first  ruler,  was  a  Carnegie  in 
spirit  and  founded  libraries  throughout  the 
Empire.  With  wise  forethought  he  ap- 
pointed a  commission  of  men  from  the  Han- 
lin  Academy  to  get  together  a  history  of  the 
Yuan  Dynasty  while  the  raw  material  was 
still  at  hand .  Like  his  recent  prototype  he 
was  a  canny  man,  and  built  a  gorgeous  hall 
in  Peking  to  contain  statues  of  the  twenty- 
one  generals  who  had  assisted  him  to  power. 
He  had  a  keen  knowledge  of  human  na- 
ture and  the  bait  it  nibbles  on,  and  in 
that  magnificent  temple  which  sheltered 
statues  of  the  people  who  had  been  useful 
to  him,  he  saw  to  it  that  there  were  plenty 
of  vacant  niches  for  those  yet  to  come! 
The  Ming  policy  was  a  broad  and  gener- 
ous one  and  in  order  to  help  along  good 
government,  a  simplified  code  of  laws 
was  drawn  up.     Even  the  five  hundred 


102  Chinese  Art 

eunuchs  of  the  palace  shared  in  the 
benefits  by  receiving  an  education  which 
put  power  in  their  hands  that  they  used 
to  the  ultimate  destruction  of  the  dynasty. 
They  became  so  influential  that  nobles 
attached  to  the  Emperor  Wu  Tsung 
protested  against  the  influence  of  this 
debased  class,  and  one  day  Wu  found  a 
note  containing  charges  against  some  of 
his  powerful  friends.  He  was  greatly 
incensed  at  this  presumption  and  ordered 
three  hundred  mandarins  to  kneel  in  his 
court-yard  until  the  writer  of  the  note 
was  made  known.  Be  it  said  to  their 
eternal  honour  that  they  remained  there 
for  five  days  and  nights  until  the  baffled 
Emperor  had  to  order  them  home  or  to  the 
hospital !  Renewed  results  of  the  ' '  White 
Lily"  society  began  to  weaken  the  dy- 
nasty, thus  giving  the  ever-ready  invaders 
an  opportunity  which  they  were  not  slow 
to  grasp. 


Historical  Outline  103 

The  Ts'ing  Dynasty  (1644-1911)  was 
Manchu,  with  the  ancient  capital  at 
Mukden.  On  assuming  control  of  the 
country  they  removed  to  Peking,  but 
many  of  their  precious  embroideries, 
paintings,  books,  pottery,  bronzes,  and 
jades  remain  in  the  Mukden  treasure 
house,  where  they  were  seen  by  the  author 
just  before  the  revolution.  The  first 
action  of  the  Manchus  was  to  issue  a 
decree  depriving  the  eunuchs  of  their 
authority,  which  was  published  to  the 
world  on  tablets  weighing  a  thousand 
pounds.  Kang-Hsi  (a.d.  1 662-1 722)  is 
esteemed  as  one  of  the  best  known  of 
all  Chinese  Emperors.  He  had  been  so 
tolerant  of  Roman  Catholics  that  there 
were  100,000  converts  in  three  provinces 
alone  before  he  knew  it.  He  was  finally 
prevailed  upon  to  issue  an  edict  against 
all  missionaries  remaining  in  the  Empire 
except   by    his    own    special    permission. 


104  Chinese  Art 

During  his  reign  a  great  dictionary  was 
compiled  which  is  an  authority  to  this  day 
and  the  wise  teachings  of  his  Sacred  Edict 
are  supposed  to  be  publicly  read  in  every 
town  on  the  1st  and  15th  of  each  month. 
Moreover  it  was  during  his  reign  that 
several  types  of  porcelain  reached  their 
highest  development. 

The  Dowager-Empress  Tse-hsi  was  one 
of  the  best-known  rulers  of  this  dynasty. 
She  was  born  in  1835,  and  on  the  death 
of  her  son,  the  Emperor,  perpetrated  a 
coup  d'etat,  putting  his  nephew,  the 
baby  Kuang  Hsu,  on  the  throne.  A  co- 
Empress-Dowager  named  Tse-an  stood 
in  the  way  of  her  ambition,  but  not  for 
long,  for  the  mortality  rate  among  her 
enemies  was  noticeably  high.  The  Em- 
peror was  continually  assisted  in  govern- 
ing by  his  loving  aunt,  and  in  1898  he 
issued  an  edict  saying  that  the  Dowager 
Empress  would  receive  the  high  officials 


Historical  Outline  105 

of  the  government  in  the  Administrative 
Palace,  while  he,  the  Emperor,  would 
attend  to  affairs  of  State  in  the  Side  Hall. 
The  harassed  man  was  not  even  allowed 
to  find  peace  in  death,  for  his  aunt  fol- 
lowed him  to  the  Hills  of  Longevity  by  an 
interval  of  twenty-four  hours.  She  was 
the  biggest  of  the  several  bitter  drops 
that  finally  made  the  bucket  run  over 
on  October  11,  191 1,  when  the  Dynasty 
came  to  an  end  and  a  republic  was 
declared. 


INDEX 


Accomplishments,  the  four 
elegant,  62 ;  chess,  music, 
poetry,  writing,  41-42 

Amitabha,  73,  79 

Antiques,   Hundred,   22-24 

Arhats,  sixteen,  80 

Army,  90-91 

Artemisia  leaf,  23 

Avalokita,  83 

Ball,  86 

Bat,  22 

Bear,  90 

Bell,  76 

Belt  buckles,  90-91 

Benson,  R.  H.,  v 

Biwa,  64 

Boar,  wild,  18 

Boddhidharma,  69-70 

Books,  24 

Brocade,  3 

Bronzes,  4 

Brush-rests,  62 

Buddha,  71 

Buddhism,  69,  71,  74 

Buddhist      Symbols,      the 

Eight,  75 
Bullock,  18 

Canopy,  76 
Cap,  literary,  50 
Carving,  3 
Castanets,  34,  37 
Chang  Kline  Lao,  35 
Chang  Li  Chu'an,  33 
Cherry,  double,  18 


Chicken,  18 

Chrysanthemums,  18 

Chu  Yuan,  12-13 

Civil  Service,  90-91 

Clair  de  lune  pottery,  21 

Clouds,  4 

Coin,  23 

Colour,  15-16 

five  virtues,  points  of 
compass,  15;  five  ele- 
ments, 8 

Confucius,  47-48 

Confucianism,  45,  47 

Consorts,  79 

Constellations,  9-10;  22 

Crane,  90 

Crockery,  3 

Crow,  red,  9 

Crutch  and  cane,  32 

Death,  22 

Deer,  29 

1  Vvil,  40 

Dog,  18 

Domino  box,  65 

Dragon,  10,  14-15,  22,  81; 
Feast,  12-13;  four- 
clawed,  13-14;  D.  and 
carp,  14;   D. -horse,  6 

Duck,  mandarin,  <;i 

Dynasties,  95  ff. 

Earth,  8 
Elephant,  78,  86 
Embroidery,  10,  32,  88,   90 


107 


io8 


Index 


Fan,  33,  36,  39,  56 

Fillets,  24 
Finger  citron,  88 
Fishes,  76,  82 

Five  sacred  books  of  Con- 
fucius, 48,  49,  64 
Flame,  22 
Flute,  34-35 

Fly-brush,  34,  43,  81,  82,  87 
Franks,  Sir  A.  W.,  vi,  21 
Frog,  20 
Fu,  22 
Fu  Hsi,  5-6 
Fu  Hsing,  39 

Gardenia,  18 
General,  78 
Ginger  jars,  18-19 
Gong,  24 

jade,  24 
Goodness,  22 
Gourd,  32 

Han  Hsiang  Tzu,  34,  35 

Happiness,   rank   and   lon- 
gevity, gods  of,  39 

Hare,  18-21 

Hen,  golden,  90 

Ho  Hsien  Ku,  35-36 

Ho  Shang,  vi,  80 

Horn,  23,  91 
buffalo,  91 
cups,  23 

Horse,  18,  36,  79 

Hsi  Wang  Mu,  20,  30,  37, 
38 

Huang  Ti,  27 

Immortals,  Eight,  30,  31, 32 
Incense  burning  set,  63,  64 
Ink  cake,  63 

Jade,  90 

Jay,  long-tailed,  91 


Jewel  of  the  law,  II 
Jui  sceptre,  29,  30,  44 

Kao  Ts'ou,  13 
Kcuei  Hsing,  40 
Key,  Trojan,  4 
Knot,  76 

Kublai  Khan,  98  ff. 
Kwan  Ti,  40 
Kwan  Yin,  83,  100 
Kylin,  50 

Lan  Tsai  Ho,  35 
Laotsze,  28,  32 
Li  Ti'eh  Kwai,  32,  38 
Lily,  White,  100-102 
Lion,  81,  86,  90 
Li  Tai-Po,  88 
Literature,  God  of,  41 
Longevity,  22,  29,  31 
Lotus  pod,  18,  36,  77 
Lovers  of  chrysanthemum, 

88;  lotus,  88 
Lozenge,  23 
Lu  Hsing,  39 
Lute,  64 
Lu  Tung  Ping,  33-34 

Magnolia,  18 
Maitreya,  74,  79 
Mallow,  18 

Mandarin  coats,  10,  21 
Millet  grains,  22,  91 
Ming  Dynasty,  101 
Mirrors,  43 
Monkey,  18 
Months,  18 
Moon,  20,  21 

temple  of,  21 
Mortar  and  pestle,  20,  21 
Mother  of  pearl,  91 
Mountains,  8,  22 
Mt.  Kwenlun,  36 


Index 


109 


Mule,  white,  35 

Museum,  British,  vi 
Victoria  and  Albert,  vi 
Bethnal  Green,  53 

Navy,  90 

Offspring,  22 
Okakura,  K.,  50 
Ornaments,  the  Twelve,  21 
Ox,  27,  43 

Panther,  90 
Paradise,  Taoist,  31 
Paragons    of    Filial  Piety, 

51-61 
Patra,  78,  82 
Patron  Saints  of: 

artists,    35;    actors,   34; 

barbers,    34;    gardeners, 

35;  musicians,   35 
Peach,  30,  34 

blossom,  18 
Peacock,  90 
Pear,  18 
Pearl,  23 
Pelican,  90 
Peony  tree,  18,  82 
Pheasants,  22 
Pheasant,  white,  90 
Phoenix,  15,  36 
Pine,  29 
Plague,  41 
Plum,  29-30 
Pomegranate,  18 
Poppy,  18 
Precious  Things,  the  Eight, 

23.  24 

Quail,  91 

Rabbit,  18 
Rat,  18 
Red  bird,  16 


Rhinoceros,  91 

Riches,  22 

Rings,  87-88 

Rip  Van  Winkle,  Wang  Chi, 

42 
Rods,  jeweled,  78 
Rosary,  81,  83 
Rubies,  90 

Sakyamuni,  67,  73,  74,  77, 

78,  79 
Samantabhadra,  78 
Sang-dc-bwuf,  9 
Sceptre,  vajra,  87 
Scroll,  36,  38,  43,  81 
Sea  horse,  91 
Seal,  91 
Serpent,  16,  19 
Set  of  Five,  64 
Set  of  Three,  63,  64 
Seven   Gems  of    Universal 

Monarch,  78 
Shell,  75 
Shou  Hsing,  39 
Show,  44 

Shun  Lao,  29,  30-31 
Silver,  90 
Sky,  16 

Snuff  bottles,  65 
Square,  17 
Staff,  knotted,  81 
Standard,  priests',  86-87 
Stars,  9-10,  22 
Storks,  31,  91 
Sun,  9,  21 

Sung  Dynasty,  16,  95-97 
Sword,  34 
Swastika,  74 

Tablets,  honorific,  14,  82 
Imperial,   vassal,    14 

Tabor,  ^s 

Tae-Keih,  6,  38,  39 
Tao-t'ieh,  5 


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